The Super Smash Games
by Daisy Bokoblin
Summary: Forty contestants. One arena. One victor. Who will win the 107th annual Hunger Games?
1. Chapter 1

**AN - So I was reading the Hunger Games the other day, and I had this random thought. "What would happen if the characters from SSBM and SSBB were used in a Hunger Games setting? (if a character is in both, like Link, they would look like their Brawl version, while if they were in only one, such as Roy in Melee, they would look like they do in the game they are in)" That thought prompted me to write THIS! Enjoy! Leave a review if you like it! Also, I saw that there were other fanfic crossovers like this, but I still wanted to do it, so here you go!**

* * *

War. Terrible war. Widows, orphans, a motherless child.

This was the uprising that rocked our land.

Seventeen districts rebelled against the country that fed them, loved them, protected them.

Brother turned on brother until nothing remained.

And then came the peace, hard fought, sorely won.

A people rose up from the ashes and a new era was born.

But freedom has a cost.

When the traitors were defeated, we swore as a nation that we would never know this treason again.

And so it was decreed, that each year, the various districts of Super Smash would offer up in tribute forty citizens to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage, and sacrifice.

The lone victor, bathed in riches, would serve as a reminder of our generosity and our forgiveness.

This is how we remember our past.

This is how we safeguard our future.

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I sat on the ground, my back leaning against a rough tree trunk. Soft sunlight shone through the green leaves above, bathing me in various shades of gold and green. Inhale, exhale. I steadied my breaths, eyes closed. Might as well relax now. There wouldn't be much relaxing after today, not for three days. All would go back to being relatively normal by then.

Unless my name was called. Then there wouldn't be anymore relaxing until I died. The reaping in the square outside of the capitol was in two days. Two days until forty people were chosen to fight to the death, until only one remained.

I knew that if I was called, it wouldn't be me who won. The victor was almost always from districts 1, 3, or 5. No one knew why. People in each district only knew what went on in their own districts. The capitol made sure of that. Though, during the reaping, people talked to each other and information slipped through the cracks. Districts 1, 3 and 5's citizens never said anything during the reapings, unless it was to volunteer.

My district, 7, supplied the capitol with things like food and weapons. Weapons like swords, bows and arrows, and explosives. There were other, stranger weapons, like something I had only seen once, when I was 8.

* * *

"_What's that?" 8 year old Zelda had asked her mother, referring to the object in her father's hands._

"_That," Zelda's mother smiled at her child, "is something called a 'hookshot'."_

_Zelda looked confused. "A hookshoot?"_

_Her mother chuckled. "A hook__**shot**__. It's tip can shoot out and grab things."_

_The young girl's eyes lit up. "Can I try it?"_

_Zelda's father spoke up, winking at his child. "When you're older, maybe I'll let you try it."_

* * *

I smiled at the memory. It was one of the very few pleasant memories I had since my parents died when I was 9. I was taken in by the farmer's family after that, but I never really felt comfortable around people besides my parents. The farmer and his wife had 9 children, which was very strange compared to the other families, who had around three children tops. It didn't make much sense to put me into a family of 9 kids when other families only had a few children. At the same time, though, the farmer's family was probably one of the most well off families in all of district 7, even with all the kids they needed to support. That was why I was placed with them, they were the only family with enough money to actually support me and were the only ones who even agreed to take in another child.

I never felt like I belonged in their large family. Only two of my adoptive siblings had ever made me feel comfortable. One was my younger sister, Avi, who was only 4 years younger than I. She had blonde hair like most of the farmer's family, and was so nice to me we became quick friends. The other was Link. He was a year older than me, but always treated me with kindness and could always make me laugh with some corny joke. He had shaggy dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes.

If my name was called, I would miss them the most.

But what if **they **were called? I couldn't bear the thought of never seeing either of them again.

I stood and stretched, trying not to think about those kinds of depressing things. I had to get home before the sun fully set and help my adoptive mother, Millie, get the younger children ready for tomorrow. For the train ride to the reaping ceremony. Shaking the thought from my mind, I began to jog from the forest and back to the farm.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

_Two days. Two days and the reaping will be over, but the sobbing and wails of the loved ones of the forty tributes will have just begun._

It pained me to think about these things, but I couldn't stop myself.

_Who will be called? How young will they be, how inexperienced?_

_How soon will they die once stepping foot into the arena?_

"Link!" The sound of my mother calling my name broke my train of thought, and I turned from the corn I was harvesting for the capitol back to my house. Mother stood in the doorway, holding something aloft. Curious, I picked up the bag of freshly harvested corn and jogged back to my home.

"Yeah, mom?" I questioned, joining her on our rickety porch.

"I found a little something in the baby's crib," she smirked goodnaturedly, and for the first time I noticed what she had held aloft moments before.

"I have no idea how my hat got in there," I defended myself, taking my cap and placing it over my shaggy, dirty blonde hair. "Bet it was Mido," I chuckled, thinking of my younger brother.

"Oh Link," mother smiled. "You can't blame everything on your siblings."

"I don't blame everything on them, only the stuff they actually **do**."

"Link, just last week you said that they-"

She was interrupted by someone running up onto the porch behind me. I didn't even need to turn to know who it was, they smelt of the crisp forest, Zelda's favorite spot.

"Zelda, how was the forest?" I smiled as I turned around to greet my adoptive sister.

She was dressed simply, a black sweatshirt over a gray tank top, with dark gray sweatpants covered in various grass stains from her extended time in the forest. Her dark brown hair hung loosely around her pointed ears and face, except for a chunk of hair on each side in the front which was tied in ribbons. Her ocean blue eyes looked troubled, though I knew it was just the reaping. She was nervous for it, we all were.

If only she knew that if boys were allowed to volunteer for girls, I would volunteer for her or any of my other siblings in a heartbeat. She's my sister as much as the rest of them.

If only I could. No boys volunteering for girls, no girls volunteering for boys. No volunteering for any people who don't come from your district. These rules have been in place since the first "pageant", as the capitol likes to call it. The districts call it the Hunger Games.

This year was number 107.

107 years of killing.

"Zelda? How was the forest?" I repeated myself, she hadn't answered yet. "Zelda?"

"Huh?" She looked at me, realizing she had been staring off into space, lost in her thoughts.

"The forest? How was it?" I gave her a lopsided smile in the quickly darkening light, trying to reassure her. She was thinking of the Games. I knew. She always got lost in her thoughts around this time. It had been going on ever since she moved in with us, 8 years prior.

Her parents had just died, she was only nine. She shut herself off, ignoring everyone, no matter how nice everyone was trying to be. In the end, the only people who got through to her were Avi and me. Once she started to open up, though, she was funny, charming, sweet, and **very **independent. I always loved that, and she and myself had bonded quickly.

"Oh, it was nice," she smiled, though I knew it was a mask hiding her true feelings.

Our mother smiled. "Dinner is in fifteen minutes, then we'll pack." With that, she turned and walked back into our old, rundown house.

I looked at Zelda, a smile on my face. "Come with me."

My sister raised an eyebrow, but followed me nonetheless down the porch steps and back to the cornfield. The sun had set a few minutes ago, and now stars glittered in the heavens above.

"Why are we doing this tonight?" Zelda tried to sound exasperated, but I knew that she was happy for me to be doing something to get her mind off of the Games.

"Because," I stated like it was obvious, because it should have been, "you're worried about the reaping, and for the next few days we won't be able to do this again, so we might as well do it now." With that, I grabbed her hand and ran into the cornfield.

"Ready?" She asked, not able to hold in her relief and happiness for getting a much needed distraction.

"Ready." I smiled as I closed my eyes and began to count to 10. I could hear the rustling of the corn slowly getting fainter as she moved away from me. "Ten!" I called out as I began wading through the cornfield, looking for my sister. Listening closely with my pointed ears, I could hear her moving to my left.

"I'm coming!" I called out to taunt her playfully.

"You'll never find me!" She yelled back, knowing full well it would give her position away.

Smirking, I bolted to my left, where her voice came from moments before. The rustling told me where she was running next, and I followed close behind. A flash of black fabric to my right, and then I could see her full form.

"Got ya!" I said, reaching out and grabbing her jacket, causing both of us to tumble to the ground, laughing.

"Wow, Link," she chuckled, sitting up. "bet that's one of your best times. Usually you take ten minutes to find me, not two."

"No way!" I grinned. "I have never taken more than four minutes, and that was because my ears were clogged from a cold!"

Zelda laughed, and I felt relieved that I had been successful in distracting her from the reaping.

"Zeeeelda! Liiiiink! Dinner!" Mother's voice rang out in the cool night air.

I stood and brushed myself off, then playfully bowed and held out my hand out. "Milady, may I escort you to supper?"

Standing, Zelda curtsied and placed her hand gracefully in mine. "Why of course, good sir. I am honored by your presence."

Laughing, I gripped her hand and ran for our house, Zelda giggling and running faster than me.

While this should have been a happy moment, however, I couldn't shake the feeling that it would be one of our last.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

I stood by my bed, trying to decide what to bring with me for the train ride to the capitol, the day we stay, then the train ride back. The reaping occurs right outside of the capitol, with cameras and people everywhere, so if I don't want to look like a slob. It's hard to not look like a slob with the clothes I have, though.

One dress. A pair of shoes. Three pairs of pants and three shirts. That's what I got for being the daughter of a miner. District 9, miners and plumbers. Yippee.

I could have brought all of my clothes, if I wanted, and still have ample room in my bag for a small dog. So I brought them all.

Shoving all my clothes in the bag, I grabbed a picture of my mother and place it gently on top of the clothes. She was still alive. She just wanted to marry me off after father died so I could have a better life.

Not that this life was better. I had just married a plumber, Mario, who was at least ten years older than me, though he wouldn't tell me exactly how old he was. His brother, Luigi, lived with us in a shack.

My district was so poor, I actually was one of the most well off people there.

Sighing, I zipped the bag closed and laid down on my bed. Mario had let me have my own bed until I at least knew more about him. Closing my eyes, I fell into a restless sleep plagued by dreams of previous Games.

* * *

_A circular clearing, forty people standing in a circle. The time is running out._

_5_

_4_

_3_

_2_

_1_

_Everyone is running to the cornucopia in the center of them all, except for a few who turn and run immediately to the cover of the trees. I stand, rooted to my spot. Everyone is killing. Swords are ringing as they clash, and people are falling to the ground, their last breaths labored and painful. _

_My eyes fall on a child, no more than ten. He stands at the mouth of the cornucopia, holding a backpack in one of his small hands. Turning to run, there is someone blocking him, their entire demeanor screaming they come from District 1._

_I need to save him, but my feet aren't moving._

"_Kid!" I scream at the top of my lungs. "Run!"_

_He doesn't, though. He is frozen in place, staring up at the man blocking his way. The man who just pulled out a sword._

"_NOO!" I scream, trying to get the man's attention and save the child._

_But I can't._

_The man brings down the sword, and the little boy falls at his feet._

_My vision is blurred by the tears flowing freely down my face. He died. No more than ten._

_Suddenly, the man turned and looked directly at me. As he runs to me, I try to move, but still I am rooted to the ground. He is directly in front of me now, his mouth contorted in a smirk._

_I sink to the ground as he raises his sword and brings it down on my head._

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

I awoke with a start. These dreams always plagued my sleep when reaping day approached. I had never been in the Games, but the boy and man I dreamed of were very real. I was only eleven, but was eligible for the reaping. Everyone is, once they reach the age of 5. It was the 96th Game, and the boy had been killed by a tribute from District 1.

Since then, I hated any tribute from 1.

They all deserved to die.

* * *

**AN - Hope you enjoyed! I know that this chapter was not very exciting, but I wanted to try and establish how the Games were going to work in my story. **

**I wasn't very happy with how this chapter turned out, but I am going to edit it more.**

**Please leave a review if you see something that can be improved, or if you just enjoyed! Or if something was confusing, because I tried to not make it confusing, but I think it still is a little bit.**

**I'll try and update soon! In fact, I'm already working on the next chapter! (:**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Also, I separated each character's game by district, so here's a list for you.**

**District 1 - Metal Gear**

**District 2 - Kirby**

**District 3 - Metroid**

**District 4 - Pikmin**

**District 5 - Star Fox**

**District 6 - F-Zero**

**District 7 - Legend of Zelda**

**District 8 - Pokemon**

**District 9 - Mario Bros**

**District 10 - Fire Emblem**

**District 11 - Kid Icarus**

**District 12 - Ice Climber**

**District 13 - Game and Watch**

**District 14 - Donkey Kong**

**District 15 - Sonic the Hedgehog**

**District 16 - Earthbound**

**District 17 - Whatever game R.O.B. comes from (please somebody review and tell me what game he comes from)**

**There was no reason for why I put Kirby as District 2, or why Donkey Kong is District 14. (Except for Legend of Zelda as district 7, that was because of the fact that LoZ is my FAVORITE as well as the number 7) :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Zelda, District 7**

_Fire. Endless fire. It rages all around me, and all I can do is stare at the sky._

_I wonder what the people in the capitol will think of my death. It will be shown on every screen, unless some other tribute's death currently occurring is more interesting than mine._

_Well, at least I gave it my all._

_Then I see him. He lies a few yards to my right, and his body is lifeless already._

"_Link." His name escapes my lips, quietly at first, then growing in intensity and ferocity._

"_Link. Link! LINK!" I pull myself over to him and pound on his chest. He won't wake up. He won't wake up._

_He won't wake up._

_I lie back, tears flooding my vision as the fire engulfs us both and our parts in the 107th annual Hunger Games is over._

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I bolted upright in bed, sweating and panting.

_It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. _I repeated the words over and over in my head, but I couldn't seem to calm down.

I had to be quiet, I didn't want to wake the only three sisters I have and who shared the room with me.

"Zelda?"

Too late.

Avi crawled out of her bed and joined me in mine. "Did you have a nightmare?"

I chuckled to myself. _I should be asking her that._

"Yes," I said quietly.

"It's alright. If you get called, I'll volunteer for you," she whispered as she snuggled up to my side.

_How'd she know what I dreamed about?_

I immediately pulled back and spun her so she'd look me in the eyes. "No, Avi! You cannot volunteer for me! I would **never** ask you to do that, and I never will! Promise me you won't volunteer for me or anyone else! Promise!"

The sternness in my tone startled her, and she pulled back a little. "I- I promise." She stuttered.

I sighed when I saw how surprised she was at my tone of voice, and pulled her close to wrap my arms around her. "Thank you, Avi. I just don't ever want to lose you."

She hugged me back, and when she pulled away, her 13 year old face had a stern look on it.

"I promise, only as long as you don't volunteer for me." She whispered, a look of concern in her bright blue eyes.

"Oh Avi," I whispered back softly. "I can't promise that. I know for a fact that I could never just watch you get called and not do anything. I love you, and that's what people do when they love each other. Besides, I'd probably be able to survive longer than you."

"What?!" She whispered in mock surprise to lighten the mood. "You doubt my skills?"

Laughing quietly, I smiled at her. "Never. Now go back to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

Nodding silently, my younger sister stood and tiptoed back into her small bed.

"Goodnight," she whispered to me, eyes already closed.

"Goodnight," I smiled softly.

Laying back on my pillow, I stared at the ceiling, not able to close my eyes for fear of dreams. Sighing, I rolled onto my side, thinking of what would happen if Link was called in two days.

_Stop thinking like that, Zelda,_ I scolded myself. The reaping was completely random. Everyone who was over the age of five got their name put in only once, never more, never less. Even on your deathbed, if you were over five years old, you were eligible.

With these depressing thoughts in my mind, I fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

I stood at the edge of the train tracks, Avi by my side along with the rest of our family. The whole of District 7 was standing with us, waiting for the same thing we were. The train to take us to the reaping.

Every district would take a train to the reaping outside of the Capitol, then would spend a day at the reaping, then the next day is the train ride home.

The reaping worked very strictly. First, we watch a video narrated by the president, Master Hand. After, a representative of the capitol would come out and begin to draw names from inside of a huge glass orb. The names are written along with the District number of the person on small pieces of paper which are being blown around by a constant flow of air inside of the orb. They blow the names around because there are so many names in the orb that if they didn't blow the names around, most of the names would be buried so deep they would be unreachable.

After drawing all forty contestants, the "mentors" are chosen. The mentors are people who will accompany one contestant. They are chosen at random as well from the orb, and will be partnered up with whichever contestant was drawn in the same place as them. Meaning, the first contestant drawn from the orb will be paired with the first mentor drawn from the orb.

The flaw in the Capitol's system was that a contestant could end up with a five year old as their mentor. The Capitol had done nothing to change it, though. Even after the 101st Games, when a contestant from District 5 ended up with a five year old as their mentor who still had trouble forming words.

Mentors have a couple of jobs. They must advise their contestant on what they should do once in the arena (because they don't already know what they will do after watching the Games their entire lives), and they also must try and gain sponsors for their contestant once the Games have begun.

Once all forty mentors have been chosen, all eighty people drawn from the orb board the largest train ever just for the short ride into the capitol and to the hotel they will all be staying in.

All the other citizens board their district's train and go home.

The contestants, meanwhile, have three days of training for the Games. After, they are ranked based on their skill during a demonstration. 12 is the best score one can get, while 1 is the worst. Only one contestant **ever **got 1 as their score, and as a result, the other contestants thought she was so weak they killed her immediately.

A high score is essential, especially since higher scores mean more sponsors.

My thoughts were broken when a rusty train pulled into the station, the number 7 painted in faded red paint on every car.

As I stepped onto the train, I turned and grabbed Avi's hand to make sure I didn't lose her.

After much confusion and shoving, me and my entire family were in the two rooms we would share for the day as we sped down the rails toward the Capitol.

We will have arrived there long before a day is up, because we're closer than the outer Districts which needed a day to arrive for the reaping.

Then it was just a matter of waiting.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

The train ride to the Capitol was by far the most **boring **thing to happen during the weeks leading up to the reaping.

Rails and trees. That was all you could see looking out the train windows.

At the same time, though, it was one of the most stressful things. All you could think of was the reaping, how it was fast approaching. It made it extremely hard to think of anything else.

That's why I usually slept on the train.

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I looked out the window, watching for it to appear.

The Capitol.

"There it is," I whispered when it came into view.

The place where thirty-nine people would be condemned to death.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

I stood in the area sectioned off for citizens of District 7. My large family surrounded me as we waited nervously for the reaping to begin.

Looking around, I could see that the people from the other Districts looked just as nervous as we did.

My attention was caught by a figure walking up onto the stage with the giant, clear orb already filled with the names of every person in every District.

The woman who walked onto the stage was wearing a strange full body suit with purple lines running perpendicular to each other covering the whole of it, like a strange purple grid.

"Welcome, Districts of Super Smash, to the reaping for the 107th annual Pageant!" Her voice rang out.

For one moment, I was confused as to why she said pageant instead of Hunger Games, then I remembered that the Capitol called it a pageant while the Districts nicknamed it the Hunger Games.

"Before we begin to draw names, we will watch a video narrated by President Master Hand himself!" She said, turning around to face a giant screen that stood on the stage.

As the screen came to life, the words that everybody knew by heart from hearing it every year rang out through the air.

"War. Terrible war. Widows, orphans, a motherless child. This was the uprising that rocked our land."

After those words, I tuned out the rest. I knew exactly what they said, anyways.

Looking curiously around at the other Districts, my eyes fell on Zelda, who stood on my left. Her whole demeanor was nervous, but that's how everyone there was. After the short video, the names were to be called, and I could tell Zelda's mind was on who will be picked from the massive orb.

Tapping her shoulder to get her to turn to face me, I gave her a small smile to reassure her. _Hopefully it helps at least a little, _I thought worriedly.

After that, the last words of the video echoed into my thoughts, bringing my attention back to the stage.

"... This is how we safeguard our future."

The strangely clothed lady smiled and spoke into the microphone in front of her.

"Now, wasn't that pleasant?" She trilled in a high pitched voice. "Let's begin drawing names now."

She took her microphone with her as she approached the giant glass ball with names flying around inside. Raising her arm, she stuck her small hand through a hole in the ball no one else could see because we were so far away.

Her long, pale fingers flailed for a few moments, as if they didn't know what to do, before closing on a single slip of paper. Smiling, she brought the microphone to her lips and read the name.

"The first contestant of the 107th annual Super Smash Pageant is…" she paused for dramatic effect before reading the name.

"Link, District 7."

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I blinked once. Twice.

Slowly, I turned to face my adoptive brother, along with the rest of District 7.

His face looked shocked. No wonder, he had just been called as the first contestant of that year's Hunger Games.

I watched as he took a deep breath, then began walking forward. That snapped me out of it.

"Link!" I screamed and lunged for him, only for somebody to hold me back.

At the sound of me yelling his name, he turned and gave me a small smile.

"You can't go!" I cried, tears flowing freely down my face. "You can't leave me!"

At this, he mouthed seven words.

_I have to. I love you, sis._

That made me cry even more as I watched him turn and walk towards the stage, towards almost certain death.

As he walked up onto the stage, the strange lady shook his hand and pointed to where he was to stand.

"Well, let's continue, shall we?" Her face was still smiling, though it looked even more fake than before.

Her hand went back in, and pulled out another piece of paper.

"Lucas, District 16."

At this, I heard cries coming from District 16's general area.

_Probably Lucas's family, _I thought, getting more and more dejected with each passing second.

I watched as a small kid, no more than Avi's age, walked onto the stage and stood on Link's left hand side.

The rest of the reaping went much like this.

"Pichu, District 8."

"Diddy Kong, District 14."

"Samus, District 3."

"Luigi, District 9."

"Young Link, District 7."

At this, I looked up to the strange woman. There must have been another kid named Link, and since they couldn't put two of the same names in, they just labeled one as the younger one to simplify things.

Typical.

"Toon Link, District 7."

_Wow,_ I thought, actually surprised.

_Three different people with the same name, all from the same District? That's gotta be a first,_ I thought as I watched a little kid walk onto the stage, presumably Toon Link.

The names went on and on, until eventually there was at least one competitor from every District.

I almost stopped listening until I heard something I never wanted to hear.

"Avi, District 7."

I turned and looked at her frantically. She looked so frightened, her blue eyes slowly filling with tears. She looked at me, and I could tell her eyes were pleading for me not to volunteer. The next thing I did I had almost no control over.

"I volunteer as tribute!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Everyone turned to look at me, even the other Districts, but I didn't care.

"Zelda, no!" I heard Avi yell and I turned to see her sobbing and running to my side. "You can't leave me!"

Her words reminded me of what I had yelled at Link when he had been called, and I kneeled to hug her.

"It's alright," I whispered quietly into her ear, stroking her hair. "You'll be fine."

I stood and walked away from my younger sister, trying to not to listen to her screaming for me to go back to her.

As I walked onto the stage and shook the strange woman's hand, she didn't even comment on how I had volunteered or how I screamed for Link the same way Avi screamed for me.

All she said was, "What's your name, dear?"

"Zelda," I mumbled, walking over to my spot in line next to a tall, blue haired boy.

_Marth, I think she said his name was. District 10._

The rest of the reaping blurred together, and I didn't remember most of the rest of the people called.

I did remember, though, that no one else volunteered, not even someone from District 1.

No one else had the guts to volunteer for their loved ones.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

I shook violently as I stood on the train, though it wasn't the train I boarded yesterday morning.

This was the tribute train.

I wasn't a mentor, either. I was a tribute.

A flipping tribute.

Not only me, though. My new husband had been chosen as a tribute as well. And his brother.

I thought back to when my name was called.

Mario and Luigi had already been called, so there was no one there to cry for me except my mother. Who wasn't even with me, so I never even saw her before I left.

To my certain death.

My mentor sat in a chair across the room from me.

His name was Toad, and he was one of the Mushroom people from District 9.

I was glad I got someone from my District.

From home.

* * *

**AN - So, what did you think?**

**Hope there was enough drama this time! =)**

**If you read it and enjoyed, please leave a review. (Favoriting or following would be appreciated as well!)**

**Also, thanks to Zelda Charm for reviewing, following, and favoriting! I was so happy when I saw that!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Zelda, District 7**

I stared at my mentor, and he stared back at me about a foot from my face. He had some nerve to be staring at me so closely, and I wasn't about to back down from his strange gaze.

Finally, he spoke up.

"Do you have a strategy?"

I shook my head. "Not currently. Aren't you supposed to help me with that?"

As I said that, he floated away from me, and as much as I thought it strange that he floated, once I took in the entirety of his strange apparel, it was probably the least of my concerns.

He wore a robe that alternated between a rich purple and a pale yellow. He had black pants and black shoes, and a hat matching his robe.

Some of his more stranger qualities were the fact that his face was half black and half light purple, neither his hands nor his feet were actually attached to his body, and one eye was black while the other was yellow. The strangest thing about him by FAR though, was the fact he was flat.

Flat.

He chuckled at me, and waved his disconnected, paper-like hand through the air. "I can only give you a strategy if you TRULY want one."

"What do you mean?" I almost spat at him, but stopped myself in time. I had learned from watching other games to never get on the wrong side of your mentor. They were often the difference between life and death in the arena.

"What I mean, my dear, is that I do not believe you truly want to win the games."

It was the truth. I didn't want to win if it meant Link would die.

"What's your name? I never caught it." I asked curiously.

"My dear, I am the master of dimensions, the pleaser of crowds, I am... Dimentio!" He flourished his arms as he announced his name as if I should know it.

"What district are you from, 'Dimentio'?" I questioned casually, hoping to get as much information on my mentor as possible.

"I am from District 9. And you are from 7, along with your brother."

At the mention of Link, I almost started to cry again. I hadn't seen him since the reaping, and now all of us tributes were at the tribute hotel, waiting to start training tomorrow.

"Yeah. So, back to my strategy…" I looked my mentor directly in his strangely colored eyes, hoping he would already know some of what I planned to have him do.

"Yes, my dear." He almost said jovially. "I know what you want me to do. You want me to try and make sure Link wins, and that under no circumstances do you want me to try and keep you alive, which is my job."

For a moment, I was startled that he knew exactly what I wanted him to do, but then I realized that anyone could probably figure my strategy out just as quickly from my actions at the reaping.

I was an open book.

"Yeah." I said slowly. "Do you think you could?"

_Please say yes, please say yes, please say ye-_

"Well, I can certainly try. I am not a miracle worker, you know."

I almost scoffed when he said that. One second he's the 'master of dimensions, the pleaser of crowds', and the next he claims he's not a miracle worker?

Maybe he had some sort of rare personality disorder.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

I sat on my bed, totally weirded out by the fact that I had to share my room with my mentor.

He had some SERIOUS problems.

I thought back to when I heard he was my mentor at the reaping.

* * *

"And now for the mentors!" The strangely clothed lady said cheerfully, sticking her pale hand back into the round orb now holding forty less names.

Her slim fingers closed on a slip of paper, and as she pulled it out to read the name, I listened intently, knowing this person would be my mentor and the difference between life and death.

"Ghirahim, District 7."

_Crap,_ I thought while watching the skinny, pale, white haired man who climbed onto the stage to shake the woman's hand and then approach me. _I'm dead._

I shook Ghirahim's gloved hand, everyone in District 7 looking at me pitifully, while the other Districts just looked curious as to who this strange mentor was. Well, he was just about the most insane person from my District.

Ghirahim was District 7's only tailor, and he was pretty good at his job. More than once I had to see him about a rip in my tunic from falling during one of mine and Zelda's nighttime games in the cornfield. He didn't charge a lot of money, either, so that was a plus.

The biggest downside, however, was the fact he was mentally unstable.

Once, when my hat had ripped beyond anything my mother could repair, I brought it to Ghirahim. Well, he was drunk when I came in, and as soon as he saw me in his shop, he started posing **really **weirdly.

"Such grace! Such poise!" I was completely startled by his words, but he wasn't done freaking me out yet. He walked right up to me and **licked **my face. **Licked **it.

I almost died right then and there. I ran from the house with my ripped hat and never went back.

Now I had the creep as a mentor.

_I am so dead._

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

I sat in a metal chair, the cool surface seeping through my clothing and causing me to shiver. All the tributes were sitting in chairs set up in a circle, our mentors were back at our hotel rooms. The room we sat in currently was huge, with ceilings so high I almost couldn't see them and stations set up everywhere around us.

It was the beginning of day one of training.

"Welcome, all forty tributes! Today you start your training for the 107th annual Pageant of Super Smash!"

I stared at the man talking to us all. Just like the woman at the reaping, he was wearing a full body suit with purple lines covering it like a strange grid. His eyes were a bright yellow like a cat's, and his mouth was pulled back in a smile so tight I thought his face might split in two.

In short, he was the freakiest person I had ever seen in my **life**, and I had seen some pretty messed up people. Like the first tribute's, Link's, mentor. I didn't even know him, but I could tell he was whacked.

"You will have three days to train before the demonstrations to determine your scores and the televised interviews, then the day after will be day one of the Pageant! I would advise that you train as hard as possible for the next three days, because you must be as prepared as possible for the Pageant." As he spoke, I noticed his bald head was so smooth, I could probably see my reflection in it.

The people from the Capitol were **weird**.

I looked at my husband, Mario, who sat on my left. He looked nervous, and I couldn't blame him. There were so many other tributes, some so muscular I wondered how they could walk around with so much muscle weight on their bodies.

Others were just plain weird, like a pink ball with a face, feet, and stubby hands a few seats to my right whose name was Kirby, if I remembered correctly. Then again, most of the people in my District were weird, so I guess I shouldn't judge the other tributes.

"Also," the bald cat-eyed man continued, "I would try and use this time to find allies as well. They will be essential to your survival, until of course you are the only ones left!" He laughed gayly as he finished his sentence, as if having to kill your allies, your friends, was flippin' hilarious to him.

It probably was.

"I don't want to detain you any longer. Go train, make allies, and plot to kill each other!" After he finished his messed up sentence, he turned on his heels and walked out of the room through a door that looked like it once belonged to a prison. It might have. The Capitol liked using the strangest things to decorate with.

Once he left, a few people almost eagerly jumped from their seats and ran for their favorite stations. They had everything here.

Ax throwing? Of course!

Climbing trees the size of a mountain? Right to your left!

Surviving shark infested waters with only your clothes and an inflatable raft? Obviously!

In short, I had no idea where to start.

Suddenly, Mario's hand gripping mine brought me out of my thoughts.

"We should find allies first," he said in his distinctive Italian accent.

"Suuure," I sighed, "but who?"

Mario scanned the crowd, and when his eyes stopped, I looked to where he was staring.

A boy with a sword stood silently, facing a group of ten training dummies. Before I could ask Mario why him, the boy ran gracefully towards the closest dummy, his feet seemingly not even touching the ground. Before you could say, "dead dummy", the boy's target was cleanly beheaded.

I almost didn't even want to breath, should I disturb the boy who was going after the next dummy. Only a minute passed before every dummy was "dead", a testament to the boy's speed.

When he stopped moving, I took a closer look at him. He had blue hair and deep blue eyes, and was lean and tall. His clothes were identical to mine and every other tribute's, a plain gray t-shirt with simple black pants. While other tributes (myself included) looked pretty awful in the clothes, they almost made the boy… Cute.

_Stop that Peach, _I scolded myself when I realized what I was thinking. _You're a married woman. It would break Mario's heart if he knew what your thoughts were._

Bringing myself out of my daze, I looked at Mario and nodded, letting him know that I also wanted the boy as an ally.

Standing, and beckoning Luigi since we already knew he'd be our ally, we walked to the boy who was now talking to another man who looked older than me and the boy, but younger than Mario and Luigi.

The new guy had blueish purple hair with a green bandana that looked like he had worn it every second of every day of his life. His eyes were blue like the the boy's, but his looked harder and colder than the boy's, whose eyes shone in the dim lighting and looked like they belonged to the nicest person in the world. Kind of contradictory to what I just saw him do to those training dummies.

I guess the boy's little sword demonstration caught more attention than he wanted, because when I walked up with my husband and his brother, he was almost startled by the amount of people talking to him just two minutes after he finished. The new guy looked startled as well.

"Do you know these people, Marth?" Bandana man asked the boy, Marth.

"Umm, no…" Marth almost stuttered.

I decided to get straight to the point due to my hatred of awkward moments like these. "Hi, my name is Peach, this is my husband Mario, and his brother, Luigi. We saw what you did with the sword and were wondering if you wanted to be allies."

"What can you do?" Bandana guy asked before Marth could say anything.

"Ike-" Marth started, but was interrupted by bandana man, or Ike, as Marth just called him.

"No, Marth. We can't just ally ourselves with anyone and everyone who asks. We need someone who can watch our backs as well." Ike gave Marth a look before he said anything in retaliation.

"Well," Mario spoke up, probably trying to think of some useful skill any of us had that would help in the arena, "Peach can cook!"

I almost facepalmed right there and then. Cooking?! That was the best my husband could come up with?! Ike looked strangely at me, Marth just looked confused. I could tell they were thinking, '_Cooking? How in the heck will that help in the arena?'_

I knew I had to at least try and save this alliance, so I spoke up.

"Mario and Luigi are plumbers, they're really strong!" Then I realized how stupid that must sound to Ike, who looked like he was built like a brick wall.

"Show us." Bandana man said slowly, as if he doubted my chubby husband and his pudgy brother. I didn't blame him or Marth for doubting them, if I hadn't seen some of the things they could do myself, I wouldn't have believed they were very strong either.

I swallowed, hoping desperately that Mario and Luigi's strength wouldn't fail them now. "Mario, Luigi, please show the two men your strength."

At my words, which came out strangled and dry, the two plumbers walked over to a station filled with different sized weights and more training dummies. I could hear a small scoff come from Bandana man, and I had to keep myself from punching him. Then I heard a small thump, and I looked at Ike to find him rubbing his arm and Marth lowering his fist and unballing it quickly.

_I like him even more already, _I thought happily. Having Marth do all the dirty work for me was fun.

As I turned my attention back to Mario and Luigi, I saw them throw 150 pound weights at their targets and cleanly behead them. Smirking, I turned to see Ike almost drop his jaw in surprise and Marth staring, both amazed at the feat the two plumbers accomplished.

As quickly as Bandana man looked surprised, he lost the look and turned to me. "Seems they are pretty strong. But what can you offer besides _cooking_?" As he said cooking, he changed his tone of voice into a mocking one.

I came so close to slugging him my fists were balled and prepared. "I- I'm good at… things…" As soon as I needed to think of something useful I can do, my mind went completely blank.

Just great.

By this time, Mario and Luigi had walked back over and stood by my side.

Then, for the first time since the reaping, Luigi spoke up.

"She is great at camouflage." As soon as he said that, I wanted to punch **him**. I had no idea how to do camouflage. "She is a terrific painter, and uses that to camouflage."

He wanted me to paint camouflage?! I was **really **ready to slug him now. Sure, I loved to paint, but I never painted camouflage! I guess, now that Bandana man and Marth's interests were piqued, I would have to try.

Gulping nervously, I walked off to find the camouflage station and silently promised myself I'd get to slug Luigi later.

* * *

**Pit, District 11**

_How in the __**heck **__am I gonna survive?_

I looked at all the people training and talking while I just stood there like an idiot, trying to figure out what to do.

I was gonna talk to the guy who pulled off those sweet moves with a sword on the training dummies, but was beaten to it by another tall, heavily built guy and a blonde woman accompanied by two, short, stubby men.

As I looked around for other people I could ally myself with, I felt a tug on my gray t-shirt that I had cut holes in for my wings. I looked down to find four kids standing there, staring up at me with pleading eyes.

"Hey mister?" Said the kid who tugged on my shirt. "Could we be allies? No one else wants to ally themselves with us…" The kid looked away as he said the last words, and I suddenly felt awful for those kids. Forced to fight and most likely die in these sick games.

"Sure." I smiled down at the kid, who suddenly looked back up at me eagerly along with his companions.

"Really! You're the first person who said yes!" The kid with blonde hair said excitedly.

"Who else did you ask?" I questioned quietly, wanting to know who refused the kids an alliance so I could try and avoid them by all means possible.

"Well," A different kid with blonde hair said, his huge blue eyes traveling around the room to everyone who had refused as he said their names.

"Samus," I looked where his big eyes landed. A slim woman who had blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail was using a whip made out of something like light to break floating targets in a station not too far from where we stood.

"Snake," A man stood holding explosives and tossing them at training dummies, blowing them to tiny bits. I had already planned to avoid him.

"Wolf," I looked where the kid's eyes landed, not sure what to expect, but I know for a FACT I wasn't expecting to see an actual wolf. But there he was, a wolf named Wolf shooting some sort of laser gun at floating targets around him.

"Meta Knight," A small round thing with wings and a mask was using a sword to pummel a training dummy to "death".

"And Ike." I looked, surprised to see the kid looking at the man with blue hair who first approached sword guy.

The black haired kid who pulled on my shirt looked up at me. "They all refused to be allies with us."

I could see tears welling up in all the kid's eyes, so I started panicking, unsure of what to do to calm them down. "Um, it's ok. They're all probably jerks anyways. What are your names?" I asked, trying to direct the conversation somewhere besides the other tributes.

"I'm Ness," the black haired kid spoke up.

"Toon Link." Said the blonde haired kid with the huge blue eyes who had pointed out the tributes who rejected the small group.

"I'm Lucas." The other blonde kid said quietly.

"I'm Popo." The only boy who hadn't spoken up yet said. "What's your name?"

"Pit." I said, waiting for the next inevitable question these kids would ask.

"Hi Pit!" Ness said cheerfully while Toon Link walked forward to say something.

"Hey Pit?" Toon Link questioned me. "Why d'ya have wings?"

And there it was, the question I was waiting for.

How was I gonna explain this?

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I stood to the side, watching Link practicing with a bow and arrow on moving bulls eye targets.

It was like watching an intricate dance.

Arrow shot, target burst as Link spun and hit the one floating closer to him from behind. Five targets came at once, and five arrows were shot in quick succession. Spinning on his heel, two more burst within a second of each other. Within just two minutes, 39 targets had burst, the same number of tributes that would die in the arena.

It almost scared me when I saw how good he was with the bow.

Almost more than when I saw him with the hookshot, the bombs, and the boomerang.

How the crap did he know how to use all this stuff?

I walked to Link's side, my hand going up to his shoulder.

"Link?"

He looked at me, sweat glistening on his forehead from exerting himself with the bow. "Yeah, sis?"

"I'm gonna train at the same time as you. Try and score some allies when I'm gone."

Link's trademark lopsided smile played over his face. "What did you expect me to do? Make tea?"

I gave him a playful punch in the shoulder and turned to leave. "Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone!"

Link scoffed, and I turned my head to see a stupid grin on his face. "I'm surprised at you, Zelda! All I ever do when you're gone is get into trouble!"

Shaking my head in pretend annoyance, I walked away from my adoptive brother and turned my attention to one of my main concerns: finding allies.

I already eliminated some people. The guy who was explosives obsessed was out, as well as the wolf, the fox, and the bird. None of them seemed trustworthy enough.

I was gonna see about the boy who did amazingly with the sword, but four other people beat me to it.

Suddenly, a tug on my pants caused me to look down at a kid gripping my clothes who looked kind of familiar…

"Toon Link?" I questioned, then quickly regretted it. This kid didn't know me. I only knew him from the reaping.

"Yeah! How'd ya know?" His blue eyes looked up at me curiously.

"I remembered from the reaping." I said, wondering what the kid wanted.

"Want to be my ally?" His shaggy blonde hair fell in his eyes, and he strangely reminded me of Link, and it wasn't just because of the name.

"You don't have any?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah I do. They'd be your allies, too!" He said eagerly.

"Who are they?"

Toon Link pointed to three kids watching an older boy with a mop of messy brown hair and white wings who was shooting arrows made of light at a bunch of targets.

Whatever Link did with a bow before, it was nothing like this.

Every move the boy made was graceful and quick, a dance of light and speed. Every target exploded in a burst of light, every arrow hit it's mark. Every movement was fluid, bringing down more and more targets until I no longer could keep track. As he shot the last arrow, it flew seemingly faster than the rest and exploded in a burst of light brighter than anything I'd ever seen, including the sun.

In short, I knew for a fact I wanted him as an ally.

I looked back at Toon Link, who looked up at me, his face as surprised as mine.

"Before I decide if I want to be your ally, can I meet your other allies?" I whispered, as if the magnificence of the boy's skills would be spoiled by being too loud.

"Sure." Toon Link took my hand and led me to his small group.

As we approached, I noticed other people had gotten a glimpse of the boy with the bow, because they were eyeing him greedily or stealing glances at him when they thought he wasn't looking.

In truth, he was looking directly at me and the child holding my hand and dragging me over.

"Hey guys!" Toon Link called out eagerly, catching the attention of the three kids who were still staring at the boy with the bow. "She might wanna be our ally!" He continued yelling, gesturing back to me when he said "she".

"Really!" The other kid with blonde hair said excitedly.

"Really?" Winged bow boy looked at me in a strange way, as if he was looking into my soul and finding out what kind of a person I was. I felt sort of awkward and could feel heat rise into my cheeks.

"Yeah," I said slowly. "Toon Link here wanted to know if I wanted to be your guy's ally."

"Really?" Bow boy looked Toon Link in his huge eyes, and the kid got a guilty look on his face.

"Sorry, Pit! She just looked so nice…" Toon Link trailed off, and I looked up at bow boy, Pit, who was smiling at the kid.

"It's alright. I think she might make a good ally too." As Pit said this, he looked up at me and gave me a warm smile.

He barely knew me, but he was being so nice to me. It reminded me of Link and Avi when I first became a part of their family…

_Stop thinking of Avi, _I softly reprimanded myself in my thoughts. _You'll just start crying here, in front of all these tributes…_

Suddenly, I realized they thought that they would only get me as an ally. "If I become your ally, my brother has to be our ally too, or else I can't be your ally."

Pit grinned. "Of course. Besides, he did some pretty sick moves with that bow of his. I'm Pit." He held out his hand to shake mine, and I took it.

"I'm Zelda." Then I realized more people had been watching Link train with the bow than I originally thought. "You were pretty amazing with your bow, too."

At this, Pit looked away and his cheeks turned pink. "Nah, it wasn't that good. I could've been much quicker…"

"Quicker?! You were moving so quickly you were a blur!" At my insistent praise, his cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink.

"I was not…" He mumbled.

I almost rolled my eyes at his insistence that he wasn't good with the bow, but decided to drop it so I didn't embarrass him anymore than he already was.

A hand being placed on my shoulder made me jump, and when I turned, explosive happy man was standing behind me. His face was hard, his gray eyes looking over me. You didn't have to be a genius to figure out what he wanted from me.

"Hey sweetheart." His gravelly voice grated my ears, and his hand slowly moved down my arm. "Don't ally with them. They're a bunch of wimps. Ally with me, I'll keep you safe." His tone of voice chilled me down to the bone, and I was frozen in place. Then, Pit appeared by my side, calming me slightly.

"Hey, Snake, get off of her. She's perfectly capable of choosing her own allies."

Snake gave Pit a condescending look. "What's it to you, wimp? She was obviously only over here because she felt bad for you."

Pit straightened at the insult, and his hand gripped the bow tighter. "Are you sure about that?"

Suddenly, I wasn't frozen anymore, and I pushed his hand away. "Go away, Snake. I do NOT want to be your ally."

Explosives man looked like he was about to snap. Which he did. One second I was staring in his cold eyes, the next I was on the floor staring up at him, sure that a red handprint was glowing on my pale face.

Everything after that blurred together. Snake was looking down at me angrily, then he was being attacked himself. Pit was running at him, throwing punches so quickly Snake could barely defend himself. Within 30 seconds, Snake was down on the floor, and Pit was walking away as if he had done nothing to draw attention to himself.

Every single tribute was staring, either in disbelief or in longing for this strong, mysterious boy to be their ally.

The only allies he wanted, though, were the kids, me, and Link.

Pit knelt down next to me, his pale blue eyes full of concern. "Are you alright?"

At first I couldn't speak. The shock of what just occurred had frozen me again, and I was lost in my thoughts. Pit was concerned about me? A person he barely knew? He was possibly one of the nicest people I had ever met.

Link running over brought me out of my thoughts, and when he knelt beside me as well, I was able to find my voice again.

"I- I'm fine."

Link looked like he was afraid I was going to die or something, so I reached my hand to him and grasped his hand in mine. "I really am fine."

"Are you sure?" My brother looked directly in my eyes to see if I was lying.

"I'm fine." I managed a small smile, and Link smiled back and pulled me gently to my feet, Pit standing as well.

Snake was already on his feet, glaring at me and Pit, though most of his rage was towards Pit.

I think Snake just found his first victim for the Games.

* * *

**AN -**

**Oh my gosh! Snake was a jerk… Sorry if he isn't a jerk in his game, but I have never played it and needed someone to be a jerk in my story!**

**Also, I'm going to respond to reviews now as well, even though I currently only have one reviewer, I feel like they deserve a response!**

**Zelda Charm - It was really hard for me to write chapter two, my heart was shattered in tiny pieces by the end! Thanks for appreciating the way I changed the reaping and added air in the glass ball, I was trying to write it and I realized there would be so many names in the ball that most would be buried and unreachable, so I was happy that my point got across! Hope you enjoyed this chapter too!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Peach, District 9**

Our three days of training were over.

My allies? Mario, Luigi, Marth, and Ike. Somehow, I managed to do terrifically painting camouflage, and Ike finally agreed to an alliance.

I stood in a strange room with blinding white walls and no furniture, waiting for the people the Capitol were going to send to make me into something I wasn't. They were going to polish me, shine me, slap a bow on me then send me on that chariot ride. Every citizen in the Capitol was waiting to meet the contestants "personally", and the chariot rides were their chance. Every eye would be watching all forty tributes ride out, their glitzy outfits catching people's attention.

The chariot rides were crucial to getting good sponsors.

My mentor, Toad, was waiting back in the hotel room to give me a few more pointers before I left for the chariot ride.

The day after the chariot ride, every tribute had their scores determined, which took up the entire day since there were so many of us, then that night we would have our televised interviews in our chariot ride outfits, and the next day was the Hunger Games.

I wasn't so sure if I was ready to go out on that chariot and face all those people, but when the Capitol people came in and started examining me as if I was some rusty nail stuck in their foot, I knew I had no choice.

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, unsure if what I was looking at was in fact a mirror or instead a window.

If it was a window, the woman on the other side was the most beautiful I had ever seen. Her brown hair flowed loosely around her shoulders, two chunks in the front wrapped in ribbons. Her body was draped in a dress flowing loosely down her body, intricate designs covering the whole of it, including the Triforce, the symbol of District 7. A gold headdress with a sapphire in the center of it glistened in the dim light, matching the woman's eyes perfectly. Long white gloves covered her arms, and gold shoulder plates glimmered.

Only this wasn't a window. It was, in fact, a mirror, and I was dressed as the beautiful Princess Zelda from District 7. Only I didn't feel like a princess. I felt like an impostor, a commoner wearing clothes far too good for her, which, in fact, the clothes **were** far too good for me.

I wished desperately to have my clothes back on, but that would have to wait.

It was time for the chariot rides.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

Somehow, someway, I was able to snag my clothes from home to wear on the chariot ride.

How? Let's just say that, after a thrown lamp, a squished brownie, and a hostage wig, my forest green tunic and matching cap were on my body as I stood in the room filled with the other tributes (whose names I now knew from all the time I spent training with them) and forty separate chariots.

I couldn't help myself and found myself staring at the other tribute's outfits.

Mario and Luigi were wearing matching blue overalls with different colored shirts underneath, red for Mario and green for Luigi. Not only that, but they wore hats that were the same color as their shirts and had the first letter of their names printed in a white circle on the front. Their outfits were actually pretty plain for the Capitol's sense of style, which made me curious as to why.

Some of the tributes weren't even **wearing **clothing, like Kirby, Jigglypuff, Pichu, and a few others.

Peach was wearing a pink, puffy dress lined with frilly lace and held a white parasol above her blonde hair adorned with a small crown. Her face though, looked like she was going to be sick. Mario stood by her side, holding her hand to calm her.

I didn't blame her for feeling sick. This was possibly one of the most important parts when it came to getting sponsors.

Pit looked like an angel. No, an **actual **angel. He wore a white toga lined with gold trim with a pair of black pants and a black t-shirt underneath. His shaggy brown hair was adorned with a gold wreath, and his wrists were wearing two gold bracelets. He was staring off into space and sitting on the edge of his chariot, legs hanging down. I guess his stylist decided to emphasise the fact he had wings by dressing him as an angel.

My eyes travelled across the others, but when I noticed Zelda standing by a chariot and staring at the ceiling, none of the other tributes even held a candle to her.

The top half of her dress was a royal purple, the bottom half a distilled white. It was covered in intricate designs, such as the symbol of District 7, the Triforce. She wore long white gloves, and a gold headdress with a blue jewel in the center that made her eyes stand out. Her long brown hair framed her pale face, and her pointed ears wore two silver earrings.

She was dressed as a princess.

I walked over to her. "My, my, my, Princess Zelda. You look beautiful as ever, may I say."

The sound of my voice startled her, and when she saw how I was dressed, her jaw dropped. "How did you get your actual clothes?"

"Well," I chuckled, "let's just say that those stylists love their wigs."

She gave me a strange look, which just caused me to laugh harder.

"I'll never understand your ways," she shook her head, trying to conceal her smile.

"Perfect! I prefer it when no one knows how I do what I do."

Zelda started laughing, and I couldn't hold in my laughter either.

Suddenly, Zelda stopped and looked away from us. I followed her gaze to where she was staring. Snake (the jerk) was standing by his chariot, dressed in a full gray bodysuit covered in clips, hooks and anything else you could think of to make him look like one of the most menacing people here. I wondered why Zelda had been staring at him, but then I followed his gaze and noticed he was staring directly at Pit, a murderous look in his eyes.

"Hey, sis." I put my hand on her shoulder, bringing her attention back to me. "He can't do anything here. There are people from the Capitol who would stop him before he even got within 10 yards of Pit, or us."

As I finished, Zelda noticeably calmed, but she still felt tense under my hand which was still on her shoulder.

"But what about when the Games start?" Her voice cracked, and I wished I could reassure her and take away her pain. "His first target will be Pit, and Pit will be with us, and he already hates me as well, and the kids-"

"Zelda." I interrupted her, knowing where this was going. "Don't worry. There are three of us and one of him. Calm down." I kept my voice firm, trying to get through to her. I purposely left out the fact that he could have allies, seeing no need to frighten her anymore than she already was.

She calmed down again, a little more than last time, and gave me a small smile. "You're right. I don't know what came over me…"

"Hey, it's fine. We're all nervous." As I finished, I heard someone approach me from behind. Turning, I saw the one person I never wanted to see again.

"Ghirahim! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the hotel room!" I almost hissed, but thought better of it and instead said it with grating annoyance in my tone.

"It is time for the chariot rides!" He said with a strange lilt in his voice, and before I knew it, he was dragging me to my chariot and away from Zelda, who was trying **very **hard not to burst into hysterical laughter at the sight of my mentor dragging me away.

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I stood in my chariot, waiting for my turn. Every tribute had their own personal chariot, and they were organized in order of District, so Snake, being the only tribute from District 1, would be the first tribute to ride into the sight of hundreds of thousands of Capitol citizens.

I felt like I was going to be sick at the thought of all those people, so I focused on the one thing familiar to me here. Link stood in the chariot ahead of me, his back facing me. He had managed to successfully get Ghirahim back to their hotel room before someone noticed he was there.

There were only three other tributes from 7, Young Link, who was ahead of Link, and Toon Link, who was ahead of him. The other tribute from 7 was Ganondorf, and he stood behind me, his red hair looking like flames in the lighting and his green skin making it impossible for me to discover if he felt sick or not.

Suddenly, my chariot lurched forward and I knew Snake was already in the bright lights and the deafening applause, probably soaking it all in. I started to get really nervous, and when I saw the bright light, I knew that I had to change my facial expression from that of a scared, sick girl to that of a happy, regal tribute. I wasn't regal in any way besides my clothes, but my stylists wanted to give me that look of royalty (for whatever reason, I think they said something about my face looking like a queen's) for the chariot rides and the televised interviews.

And then I wasn't in the dark anymore, the deafening applause of the Capitol was for me.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

I waved, smiled, and waved again, caught up in the endless cycle that was the chariot ride. Sometimes I would even blow kisses, and the cheering got noticeably louder. People were screaming their favorite tribute's name, and I was no exception.

"Peach!"

"We love you Peach!"

"Marry me Peach!"

I was sickened. These people didn't know what we were going through, they treated this as the one big event of the year that everybody would be talking about.

I wondered what those people would say when I died...

"_Aww! She was my favorite!"_

"_I knew she should have gone left at that tree!"_

"_Oh, well. At least Mario's available again!"_

Well, maybe not that Mario thing…

Suddenly, I realized that I was at the circular area in front of the massive mansion with the large landing that President Master Hand would talk to us from. I swore to myself that if I ever was to get into a room with the President alone, I would kill him.

I looked back at the other tributes behind me, and noticed the last one was pulling to a stop.

It was time for my first official meeting with the president, and most likely my last.

As the president floated out, I wondered how I would have reacted if I hadn't known what he looked like. He was, in short, a giant, floating, disembodied, gloved hand. That was it, and it sort of freaked me out even though I knew what he looked like already from watching the Hunger Games year after year on television.

The crowd slowly quieted down, and I knew that our president was about to speak.

"Welcome, welcome." He began in a deep, echoey voice, and I began to wonder how the heck he was talking without a mouth. "Tributes, we welcome you. We salute your courage and your sacrifice. And we wish you a happy Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favor."

After that, all the tribute's chariots turned around (Snake still in front) and rolled back into the dim room where all the chariots were, every citizen of the Capitol still cheering wildly

It wasn't until then that I realized that President Master Hand had said something he never said before.

He called it the Hunger Games.

* * *

**Pit, District 11**

As soon as I got back to my room, I changed back into the clothes the Capitol provided for us before, the simple gray t-shirt with plain black pants.

I almost couldn't believe the fact I was dressed as an angel for the chariot rides, and wondered if that would hurt my chances for good sponsors or help it.

Hopefully, it would be the latter.

I still had to wear that outfit again for the televised interviews, and wasn't looking forward to it. _At least I have til' tomorrow night before I have to wear it again, _I thought, staring up at the ceiling from my spot sprawled out on my hotel room bed.

My mind wandered, and I remembered something from before. _Why would the president suddenly start calling it the Hunger Games?_

I pondered for a while, but coming up with no plausible reason why he would besides some sort of alien abduction, I decided I'd ask Link and Zelda tomorrow while we waited for our turn to demonstrate our skills and receive our scores. We had become pretty close in the few days of training we had, and I was glad I was allied with them and the kids.

I just hoped that none of us would die too soon in the arena.

And if I died, may it be for them.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

I sat in a plain room with gray walls, all forty tributes with me. We were all waiting for our names to be called to demonstrate our skills and receive our scores which would be revealed after the interviews are aired. They were calling names according to District number, so I was able to relax a little knowing that even Snake hadn't been called yet, so I had plenty of time. Ish.

Zelda sat on my left, all the kids we allied with sitting on the floor in front of us and playing some imaginary game, but we hadn't seen Pit yet.

"Hey Zelda." I said casually, trying to catch her attention.

"Yeah, Link?" She asked me, though unlike the other day, she seemed much calmer.

"Does my cap make me look fat?" I gestured to my hat which I wore, even though I was wearing the plain clothes the Capitol had given us.

As I asked her that, she gave me the strangest look I'd ever seen her have. I obviously was just trying to cheer her up, but she didn't seem to understand that, causing me to burst into stifled laughter.

"Why the **heck **would your hat make you look fat? I think that was the most idiotic question you have ever asked me." She rolled her eyes at me.

A wild grin broke out onto my face. "That was kind of the point!"

Well, that comment earned me a quick punch on the arm.

"Really, Link. You can be so idiotic at times." She was trying to stay serious, but a grin crept onto her face.

When she looked away from me abruptly, I was afraid Snake was doing something again but followed her gaze to Pit, who was walking over with a strange look on his face.

"Hey Pit!" I called out, causing him to smile slightly.

"Hey Link." He responded, pulling a chair in front of me and Zelda and sitting on it backwards, his arms resting on the back.

Zelda must have noticed his strange look as well, because a look of worry came over her face. "Pit? Is everything alright?"

"Huh?" He came out of his daze, and gave Zelda a smile. "Yeah, everything's fine. I was just thinking about something I heard the other day."

I raised my eyebrows at him, silently questioning what he heard.

"Well," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "yesterday, during the chariot rides, President Master Hand said something."

Zelda interrupted him. "He says something every year."

"No, it was something different than he normally says." Pit said quietly. "He called it the Hunger Games, not the Pageant."

My jaw almost hit the ground. "He never calls it the Hunger Games! Why would he just start this year? In fact, why would he call it that at all? The Capitol finds the term the "Hunger Games" to be insulting!"

"Exactly my thoughts." Pit said, a troubled expression clouding his face. "I was actually going to ask you if you had any ideas as to why he'd do that."

I shrugged, and Zelda did the same. To me, there was no logical reason as to why he'd say the Hunger Games.

"Link, District 7." An echoey voice came over the speaker, and I realized they were calling me to go into the other room and display my skills.

_Crap, _I thought silently. I hadn't even realized they started calling people in, and by the looks on Zelda's and Pit's expressions, neither did they. Standing, I walked to a door on the other side of the room that lead into a room similar to the training room, but with a small landing area where the gamemakers and others could watch me and give me my score.

_Well, here goes nothing,_ I thought as I turned the doorknob and entered the room where my score would be determined.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

I stood in front of a table covered with random weapons, trying to decide which would be the right one to use to impress the gamemakers and other Capitol citizens all watching me from their comfy little landing, where they chatted, drank some pink liquid, and stared at me, amused at my indecisiveness.

Finally, I decided that I would go with the boomerang, because it was the only weapon besides the hookshot I hadn't seen other people using expertly.

I could hear the stifled laughs as I scooped up the bright yellow weapon, knowing they thought this to be the weakest of all the weapons I could have chosen.

That was the main reason I chose the boomerang. If I could show them how I could turn something so simple into a deadly weapon, they would give me a high score. If I failed, however, I would get a low score and would be considered weak and picked off by the other tributes.

In other words, I was taking a big chance on this one weapon.

Gripping the bright yellow object tightly, I walked over to a small area that would fill with moving wire frames. They were shaped like people, but their design was much like the outfit that the lady at the reaping had worn and the man at training.

Me using such a small weapon in such a hard training area elicited more laughter from my judges, and I had the sudden urge to attack them with my boomerang, but calmed myself and instead imagined their pathetic, pale faces on my targets, currently frozen but about to start up.

A female wire frame ran at me from behind, but I whipped around and flung the boomerang, "slicing" her head cleanly off. The boomerang kept flying, however, and took out two male wire frames before returning to my hand, on which I promptly flung it again. Five were taken out this time, and when I whipped it again a male wire frame with a "sword" attacked from behind.

I knew he was coming though, and spun around, grabbing his wrist and keeping him from bringing the sword down. While he was struggling with me, I made sure to keep him in place so that when my boomerang came back…

Slice! The boomerang cleanly took off his head and I jumped to catch my weapon, spinning to find six more wire frames chasing after me. Four died on the initial throw, but the other two, armed only with their computer generated fists, began to punch at me.

Duck. Dodge. Swing. I couldn't hold off their fists much longer, and I looked for my boomerang desperately. When my eyes saw it a few feet away on the floor, I dove between the legs of the wire frame to grab it just as one of the wire frames tried to punch me.

Grasping my boomerang, I rolled away from where I landed, knowing that my opponents would be attacking where I landed. I quickly jumped to my feet and spun, flinging the boomerang at the nearest wire frames head. It's companion quickly came at me, but before it could even touch me, the boomerang flew through it's head, returning safe and sound to my hand.

I had defeated them all, barely a scratch on my body, and every face watching me from the landing was in shock.

_Take __**that**__, boomerang doubters!_

* * *

**AN -**

**Take THAT, boomerang doubters!**

**The boomerang isn't actually my favorite weapon, but for some reason, it is my absolute FAVORITE weapon in Oracle of Seasons/Ages!**

**My actual favorite for almost every other game is the bow and arrow, though I hate it in Skyward Sword because of the automatic zoom it comes equipped with.**

**Nintendo! I love the challenge of trying to hit targets from REALLY far away! (like in Twilight Princess, when you have to hit that pole… I almost never use the Hawkeye!)**

**Also, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! (and I know what you're thinking - another chapter?! Already?! Well, I felt sick today, so I took time to write this and get my mind off of feeling like bleah)**

**Next chapter might be awhile, I have visiting relatives! ...Somebody save me!**

**Anyways, now that I have ranted, just wanted to thank OrangeStreakedStar for following and favoriting! I was so happy, I couldn't stop squealing randomly until I ran out of breath!**

**And now, a response to my loyal reviewers:**

**Zelda Charm - I had never seen a story with Zelda and Link as siblings, so I wanted to try it for something new! Also, I feel really bad knowing that in upcoming chapters, I'm going to have to kill people! D: I'm hoping you won't hate me when this is all said and done with! (Also, it kills me to think about the kids as well!)**

**OrangeStreakedStar - First, thanks for reviewing! Second, my heart died as I wrote these chapters, and it is dieing knowing what I plan to do to them all! Thanks for all your compliments!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN - Soooo sorry for the long wait! I haven't had much time to write lately, what with relatives and all, and then I got MAJOR writers block concerning the first scene of this chapter…**

**Thanks for waiting, and hope this chapter makes up for it!**

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

When Link's name was called for him to demonstrate his skills and receive a score, I almost started hyperventilating. I would be called VERY soon now, and I had no idea what I was going to do.

Would I show my speed? Nope, I wasn't really fast enough to impress anybody.

Would I swing a sword? Never picked one up.

Perhaps I'd use the bow and arrow. During training, Link had shown me how to use it, then Pit helped us both improve. That didn't mean I was any good with it though, when compared to them...

In fact, the only weapon I had used in training besides the bow was the whip, which I wasn't awful with, but wasn't amazing with.

I guess I would just have to wait and see what they had set up in the room...

"Zelda, District 7."

I almost jumped out of my skin when my name and District echoed over the speakers. Link hadn't returned to this room, nor any of the other tributes who had been called, so I assumed that neither would I.

As I stood and walked towards the door, I looked back at Pit who gave me a warm smile, probably to reassure me. I wasn't feeling very reassured though, when I walked into the room which could eventually determine whether I lived or died in the arena.

The first thing I noticed was the excessive amount of weapons scattered on various tables and mangled training dummies lying all over the floor.

The second thing that caught my eye was the small landing built into the wall where a group of people, including some of the game makers, were sitting and watching me enter the large room. Though most of their attention was on each other and the strange foods they were eating.

I had a feeling that, if you weren't amazing with some weapon or survival skill, you would get almost no attention from them.

And I wasn't too sure that I was great at anything.

My eyes wandered over the weapons littering the table, but the only thing there I had any skill with was the whip, and a little with the bow. I had a feeling that I shouldn't do the bow, though, because when Pit went, whatever skill I might have shown would be overshadowed by his graceful movements, his clean shots.

That left the whip, unless I had some sort of amazing survival skill to show them, and though I had practiced a lot of different survival techniques, none were good enough for a high score.

So I was to use the whip.

As I walked over and picked up the whip, I could almost feel the disapproving stares from my small audience boring into me. Swallowing a wad of spit to calm down, but failing miserably, I walked over to the demonstration area.

It was going to fill with moving, human like figures called wire frames, and my goal was to kill or incapacitate them all.

_Piece of cake, _I thought sarcastically as my opponents materialized, and my test began.

A female wire frame ran at me from the front, and I snapped my whip out to wrap it around her neck.

SNAP! Her neck twisted at an awkward angle as I yanked my whip to the side, and though she wasn't real, her neck had made a very lifelike sound as it "snapped".

Before I could even feel anything about what I just did, like disgust, two more frames came upon me from behind. I immediately spun around, my whip sailing and wrapping around the waist of one of the wire frames. I swung my arms, and the frame held by my whip sailed and crashed into it's partner, both of them falling to the ground.

I could tell neither were dead yet, so I ran over to the two on the floor, another three on my heels, and brought my foot down so hard on each of their heads, the sickening crunches emanating from them almost made me vomit.

Shaking the feeling away, I spun to face three wire frames running at me.

My whip flew out and wrapped around one of their computer generated ankles, immediately tripping them and sending them flailing to the ground. The other two were still running towards me, so I ripped my whip away from the fallen one and sent it towards one of the standing ones. Unfortunately, my opponents had realized my fighting pattern, and easily avoided my weapon.

_Crap, _I thought while diving to the side to avoid the fist sailing through through the air at my face. I tried miserably to break my fall with my hands, but I landed so hard, I could hear a sickening crack and a hot pain in my left wrist. The pain was so intense that when I bit down on my lip, I could immediately taste blood.

As much as I wanted to just lay there and die from the pain, I knew I needed to keep moving and avoid any more attacks from the frames. Rolling to the side, I caught sight of a computer generated foot smashing into the ground where my head had been not moments before.

Swallowing, I sprang shakily to my feet and tried desperately to think of a new strategy while avoiding more attacks from my wire frame opponents.

Deciding on a risky idea, I moved my arm as if I was going to swing the whip at one of their ankles. They easily dodged, but I quickly changed the trajectory of the whip so that it wrapped around the frames waist instead. It looked down at it's waist, but before either could react, I did what I had done earlier and swung the wire frame caught by my whip and sent him tumbling into his partner, both crashing to the ground. As soon as they landed I yanked my whip away from them and ran over to bring my foot down on their heads.

Crack! Crack!

As soon as I finished them off, I spun in a full circle, looking for my next target. Yet there was nobody. I had defeated them all.

I had won.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

We had all finished. Every person had been called to demonstrate their skills, and I had shown them my camouflage skills. I was actually kind of glad that Luigi had made me paint camouflage, or else I would have never known what I was going to do for the gamemakers.

Now that it was over, though, I was standing back in my hotel room, my stylists preparing me for one of the things I had been dreading most since the beginning of this whole thing; the televised interviews. They were dressing me in the pink, frilly dress I had worn on the chariot ride, and I was reminded of the disgusting reactions from the Capitol citizens yesterday. Was that how they'd react at home? Watching from the comfort of their soft bed sheets, the plush chairs, the silky clothing?

I shuddered, hoping desperately that I wouldn't see anyone acting like that in the audience during the interviews. As the small, gold crown was placed on my head, I realized they had finished dressing me.

Princess of District 9. As if.

"You remember what to act like?" A small voice came from behind me, and I turned to greet my mentor.

"Yes Toad," I almost sighed. "I have to act like a sweet, innocent, girl who's generous and thinks being able to participate in the Hunger Games-" Toad gave me a quick look to cut me off, and I realized my mistake and quickly fixed it, "being able to participate in the _Pageant _is the best thing to ever happen to her."

Toad smiled and nodded. "Good. Ya know, I think this strategy will be the best. Everybody loves a sweet, innocent girl who loves everybody."

_Me? Love everybody? That couldn't be further from the truth, _I thought miserably, thinking of how I'd kill anybody involved in creating the Hunger Games in a heartbeat if I was ever in a room alone with them.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

_Yes! _I thought joyously, looking down at my forest green tunic. My stylists, once again, wanted to dress me in something besides my clothing, but I'd already worn them on the chariot ride, so I **had **to wear them for the interviews.

A tap on my shoulder made me jump three feet into the air, and I turned around, expecting to see my stylists, once again begging me to wear their clothes, but was instead greeted by the smell of alcohol bated breath.

"Ghirahim, what do you want?" I could barely keep the disdain out of my voice, and most of it managed to seep through.

"I just wanted to make sure-" He hiccuped, interrupting his sentence before he continued, "that you know how to act for the interview." The last words came out slurred, and I could tell he had one too many drinks at the tribute hotel's bar.

"I don't need your help." My teeth were grit so hard I felt my jaw go numb.

"Keep telling yourself that," he mumbled, his face so close to mine the overwhelming stench of alcohol almost made me vomit. "Listen. I think you should play up your handsomeness-e-ness."

When he said that last word, I almost punched him, but thought better of it and instead slapped him across his face to try and bring him back to reality.

"... What was that for, sonny boy?" He gave me a really weird look, and I could tell my slap did absolutely nothing to help. "You know, I think it was meant to be. Me being your mentor. You and I, we're bound by that thread of fate."

Now I was really concerned for his sanity and my safety. What the heck was he talking about?

Then things got really weird.

"I am the Demon Lord who presides over this land you look down upon, this world you call the surface." He slurred, walking towards me as I backed away.

"You know, Ghirahim, I think I forgot something back in the training room. I'll be back." I made up a quick excuse, I needed to get away from this freak!

"You may call me Ghirahim. In truth, I very much prefer to be indulged with my full title: Lord Ghirahim. But I'm not fussy." He continued as if I had said nothing.

"Oooookay 'Lord Ghirahim'!" I tried to act as cheerful as possible. "I'm just gonna go now."

And with that, I turned tail and fled out of my room and into the halls.

Only, I wasn't expecting to run into another tribute.

And when I say run into, I mean collide with causing both of us to fall onto our butts. Luckily, the hallway floors were carpeted.

"Hey! What are you-" The tribute on the floor in front of me started, but I cut in.

"Roy, shut up and run!"

"Hey! How the heck do you know my name?!"

"I like to listen in on other people's conversations. It doesn't matter right now, just run!"

By this point, I had stood, grabbed Roy's hand, and dragged him along behind me.

"What are we running from?" He asked with a tone of annoyance in his voice.

Before I even had a chance to answer, we heard a voice ring out from behind us.

"Link! You and I are bound by that thread of fate! Destined to fight!"

Roy looked behind us, then looked back at me with a pitying look on his face. "Aaaah. Running from your mentor. Makes sense."

"Good," I panted, "now keep running!"

Ghirahim wouldn't stop yelling at us though. "Come! Meet me in battle and the thread of fate which binds us will be soaked crimson with your blood!"

"Woah." Roy sounded shellshocked. "That guy wants to kill you! What did you do?!"

"Nothing!" I almost stopped to talk to my fellow tribute better, but then I remembered the crazy mentor chasing me and thought better of it. "In fact, that was the first time he ever said he wanted to kill me! He's drunk!"

"Oooh." Roy nodded in understanding. "But, why would he want to kill you after a couple of drinks?!"

"I'm not entirely sure it was just a couple!" As I panted out the last words, I turned a corner and dragged Roy behind me. After making a couple more quick turns, I looked behind me to see if Ghirahim was still behind us, but all was quiet and clear. Sighing in relief, I sank down the wall and rested, pulling my knees up to my chest. Roy did the same on the wall opposite me, except he splayed his legs out.

"Soooo," he breathed, "what's it like having him as a mentor?"

"Ha! You don't want to know." I chuckled softly, still completely out of breath. "How's your mentor?"

"Midna?" Roy shrugged. "A little weird, but man is she hot!"

I gave him a look asking, _Really? Really?_

Roy smiled. "Hey, she is! But seriously, she's a good mentor. I think her plan for how I act at the interviews will work."

Suddenly, his words sank in. "Crap!" I jumped up, and Roy followed suit.

"What?"

"We're gonna be late for the interviews!"

Roy stood still for a second as my words sank in.

"Craaaap." He started running, and I followed behind him.

"Hey, what's your name? Never caught it."

"Link!" I smiled as I realized we'd been talking like we were old friends.

"Nice to meetcha, Link! I'd introduce myself, except for the fact you already know my name from being nosy!"

"Hey!" I yelled back at him, laughing on the inside. Then I realized I was hopelessly lost, and I had just been following Roy as we ran along the halls.

"Hey Roy?" I asked slowly.

"Yes, Link?"

"Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"Nope!" He smiled cheerfully at me, as if being lost in the Tribute's Hotel when we needed to get to our interviews was perfectly fine by him.

"Where are we going then?"

"I have no idea! I was just hoping we'd run into someone who works here to show us the way back to our rooms!"

_Juuuuust greaaaaaat. _I thought sarcastically, but followed behind Roy nonetheless.

What else was I supposed to do?

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I stood nervously in a small area backstage, waiting for my turn to be interviewed. I wasn't really nervous about the interviews, currently, though, I was more worried about Link. He hadn't shown up yet, along with another tribute from District 10.

_Where is he? _I thought, tapping my brown boot on the cool, metal floor. I was dressed in my princess outfit, but my boots were the only thing they allowed me to wear to be comfortable, seeing as how you couldn't even see the boots due to my long dress.

As I waited, my thoughts turned to how my wrist had been broken in the demonstration. They had easily fixed it afterwards using some strange machine, and now it felt as if it had never been broken at all.

My attention was caught as a loud noise behind me made me turn around.

"Link!" I ran over to him and embraced him. "Where the heck were you!?"

"My mentor tried to kill me."

I looked up at him. "Really, Link? I think that's the worst excuse you've ever had for being late."

"I can vouch for him."

I turned at the new voice, and was almost blown back by the immediate hotness.

Ruffled, crimson hair.

Gorgeous cerulean eyes.

Great build.

I couldn't breath for a good minute before I realized how stupid I must have looked to Link and the newcomer, just standing there not breathing. I could feel my cheeks heat up as I brought myself back to reality.

"Umm, how can you vouch for him?" I asked quietly, thoroughly embarrassed at my reaction to a cute boy.

"Well, I kind of got dragged along with him. We were both lost for a while before we were found by my mentor, Midna."

At the mention of Midna, Link's cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink.

_Who is this Midna? _I wondered silently. _Who could make my brother blush?_

It was as if Roy could read my thoughts, or he saw the blush on Link's face, because he decided to continue talking about his mentor. "She's from District 7, like you guys. She's quite good looking." As he said the last words, he looked at Link expectantly, and sure enough, my idiot brothers cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

But my thoughts were mostly on what the red haired boy just said. _He thinks she;s good looking? _I suddenly felt very jealous, before I realized I barely knew this boy. Why was I so overprotective of him if I didn't even know his name?

I didn't even know his name. That thought snapped me back to reality. "Link, aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?"

"Yeah, sure!" Link was brought from his embarrassment long enough to get out a couple more sentences. "Zelda, this is Roy. Roy, this is Zelda, my younger sister."

"Nice to meetcha, Zelda!" Roy gave me a goofy grin while holding out his hand for me to shake, and as I took it, I couldn't help but think about how cute that carefree grin made him look.

"Likewise, Roy!" I gave him a small smile.

Suddenly, three people came over and began guiding us away from each other.

"Wha-?"

"The interviews are starting! You must be in line!" The strange lady holding my shoulders half guided, half pushed me over to my spot in line. The line was the same order the chariots had been in, so Link was ahead of me, Ganondorf behind me.

I was a little unnerved with this strange man who I had never met standing right behind me, but I had no choice. I instead focused on the screen that showed exactly what was happening during the interviews. It was currently black, but I knew that it would light up in just a few seconds, showing the huge stage where all the tributes would be interviewed in front of a live audience.

I tried to swallow my nervousness as the screen came to life, and the thundering applause and booming music echoed in my ears.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

I listened intently as the announcer's booming voice resonated through the room filled with the tributes. He was announcing the man who'd be interviewing us. From what I remembered of him, I wasn't looking forward to meeting him in the flesh. That is, if he had any flesh left.

"Ladies and gentleman, your master of ceremonies, Tabuu!"

I watched as the chair onstage spun around, revealing the man who'd be interviewing us, Tabuu.

He looked like a computer generated image, to tell the truth. He had the form of a man, but he was a pale blue and you could see objects on the other side, though they were warped and distorted.

As his name was announced, he stood and waved at the crowd, a huge smile plastered on his face. The cheers got louder at this, and he seemed to be soaking it all in.

"Welcome! Welcome!" He shouted to the crowd, and I wondered how he could act so carefree with all these people watching. "Welcome to the televised interviews of the tributes for the 107th annual Pageant of the Capitol!" The crowd got even louder, and I was starting to get **extremely **nervous, thinking of all the people who were going to be watching me as I was interviewed.

"Let's get right into it, shall we? The first tribute is from 1, and his name is Solid Snake!" At this, Snake walked onto the stage, smiling and waving at the crowd. I felt like throwing up at his act. But, if that's how he wanted to play it, so be it. He walked over to Tabuu and shook his hand before they both sat in identical chairs next to each other, facing out at the audience.

"So Snake," Tabuu started, "what was it like when you were called at the reaping? What did you feel?"

"Well Tabuu," Snake began, but I just blocked out the rest. I didn't want to hear this guy's interview.

Now I was just waiting for my turn...

* * *

**AN - Hope you enjoyed this!**

**I really don't like the scene with the whip, though I can't figure out why, so any constructive criticism is welcome for that scene! Or anywhere else!**

**I have put a poll up on my profile for who you want to win the Games! It will not affect my writing, and will be public, I'm really only putting it up so that I can see who everybody reading wants to win. Also, you can vote for three different people, only because I know how hard it would be to just choose one. If for nothing else, it will be there so you can see who is actually competing in the Games. Vote now!**

**Thanks so much to The Unspoken Prophet for following my story, and RandomObserver42 for favoriting and following!**

**And now, a break from our regular broadcast to respond to some reviews!**

**OrangeStreakedStar - How do I do it? Ummmm, I write what I feel while listening to random music? Really, I have no explanation for your rampaging feelings XD Jk, and thanks for all the compliments and for reviewing!**

**Zelda Charm - I felt the urge to show how lovely the boomerang is, because you really don't see many people talk about it... it made me sad for the poor boomerang! XD And, as to your theory about Master Hand, like you said, you'll just have to wait and see! :) Thanks for the compliments, and for reviewing on every chapter so far! It is my driving force when I feel like no one likes my writing!**

**Storm Aurastar - ...now I feel kind of bad for Snake! I don't play Metal Gear, so I really didn't know what to have him act like (really, though, the only games that these characters come from that I play are the LoZ, Mario Bros, Pikmin, and the original Kid Icarus XD) Thanks for reading and reviewing, I just feel so bad for making Snake mean when he's nice… but there's no going back now! Oh well!**

**RandomObserver42 - Yay! Thank you! Hope this chapter lived up to your expectations!**

**All your reviews have just filled my heart with rainbows! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Link, District 7**

_Come on, Tabuu! Just drag this interview out a little bit longer! _I stood in line anxiously, hoping desperately that Young Link's interview would drag on so long I wouldn't have to be interviewed.

That was obviously not going to happen, but I didn't want to go on live television! I was nervous that I'd screw up big time and ruin my chance for **any **sponsors.

I turned my attention back to the screen just as Tabuu stood with Young Link and raised the kid's hand as high as it would go. It looked quite stupid. (though not as bad as with Toon Link, that kid was **short**!)

"Ladies and gentlemen, Young Link from District 7!" The crowd cheered so loudly, my eardrums felt like they were going to burst. Young Link walked off of the stage, and I realized I was next. The kid walked backstage, and a man with bright orange hair from the Capitol came over to me.

"It's your turn." He gestured with one arm towards the stage, and I took a deep breath in a lousy attempt to calm down before walking over to the stage. I could hear Tabuu announce my name and District before I walked into the blinding lights and thunderous applause.

Tabuu gave me his huge smile, and though somewhere in me I knew it was probably fake, I actually calmed down because of it. I almost forgot about the millions of people watching me on their televisions. Almost. I walked to Tabuu and shook his hand before he gestured for me to sit along with him.

"Welcome, Link, to your televised interview! How are you feeling?" Tabuu questioned, looking back and forth from me to the audience.

"Uhh, I feel fine." I tried to answer simply, but I knew he'd try to get more out of me.

"That's good, but fine about what?" He tried to act like his question was a simple one to answer, and it should have been, but not for me. What did I feel fine about?

"Being here." I answered simply. "I feel fine being here, I feel fine being in the Pageant. I feel fine knowing my family will be fine without me."

Tabuu frowned when I said the last part, as if he actually **cared **that I'd probably never see my family again. "Well, that's good. Knowing your family will be taken care of. Speaking of family, you weren't the only tribute from your family, correct?"

"Correct." I wanted to keep my answers short and to the point, but Tabuu wasn't letting me get away that easily. "My sister, Zelda, is here as well."

Tabuu frowned slightly, and the way his face looked, I actually thought, for the briefest of seconds, he cared about me and felt pity. I dismissed the thought, though, knowing how the Capitol was full of self righteous hypocrites who knew nothing of pain and loss, unless it was when their favorite tribute died.

"I'm sorry." He sighed, but just as quick as he was "sad", he was "chipper" again. "But I bet you allied with her on the first day, am I right?" His face was once again contorted into his sick smile, and all I wanted was to punch it right off of him.

"Yes." I said in as calm a voice I could muster. "I allied with her."

"Well, isn't that sweet?" He continued glancing at the audience, who were oohing and ahhing at the fact I was allied with my sister. Suddenly, I wanted to kill them. They were sick.

"Anyways, what do you think of the other tributes?" Tabuu looked at me, then back to the audience.

"They're fine."

"Eh eh eh, Link! We want details! Details like who else you allied with!"

"Well, you're just gonna have to wait for the Ga- Pageant then, aren't you?"

"Ohh, we have a feisty one!" Tabuu laughed gayly, the audience quickly joining in. "Well, Link, I can't wait to see your allies! One last question, before your time is up, what inspired your stylists to give you this outfit?"

"These are my clothes, from home. They let me wear them." I answered simply, more aaws going up from the audience.

"Well, thank you for talking with us, Link." Tabuu stood, me following suit swiftly. He grabbed my hand, and as much as it repulsed me, I let him raise it into the air like he did the other tributes. "Ladies and gentlemen, Link of District 7!"

The crowd went wild, and I walked quickly off of the stage.

_That was too much for me,_ I thought, disgusted thoroughly by the Capitol citizens.

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

"Ladies and gentlemen, Link of District 7!"

_Crap,_ I thought worriedly. _I'm next._

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, a real treat. The sister of our last tribute, it is my pleasure to introduce our next tribute, Zelda of District 7!"

And with that I was forced to walk onto the stage, a regal, calm, positively fake smile plastered on my face. Wild applause and random cheers burst my eardrums, and I just wanted to crawl under a rock and hide, but I somehow kept walking forward. Somehow, I was able to shake Tabuu's hand without gripping too hard. Somehow, I was able to sit down without falling.

"So Zelda, let me just say it is an absolute pleasure to have you here."

And somehow, I was able to respond without choking on my words.

"The pleasure is all mine, Tabuu!" I tried to keep my "queenly" smile on my face, but it was getting harder with each passing second.

"It is? What a doll," Tabuu smiled at the audience, who began a light round of applause. At what, I didn't know. "So let's get right into it, shall we? I think we'll start at the reaping." As he said the last words, a small frown graced his features, like he cared for what had happened and felt pity for me. "Why did you volunteer?"

"She was my sister." I answered calmly, trying not to look my interviewer in the eyes.

"I see." Tabuu nodded solemnly. "That was a very noble thing to do. I think I speak for the entire Capitol when I say that we were touched by your selfless act." Slight murmurs went up from the audience, and quiet applause echoed in the large room.

"On a different note," Tabuu smiled again, and any illusion I had that he might have actually cared for me was gone. "what did you think of the chariot rides? How did your stylists come up with such an amazing outfit?"

I smiled, as if I was happy to answer. "Well, Tabuu, to answer one of your questions, the chariot ride was exhilarating. Everyone in the Capitol seems to be a decent, kind person." I was lying through my teeth. "To answer your other question, my stylists decided on this outfit because they thought I was beautiful." That wasn't as much of a lie, in fact, I wasn't lying at all anymore. My stylists did tell me I was beautiful.

"They were speaking the truth. Why don't you stand, show us your outfit?"

"Of course, Tabuu." I stood and slowly spun, showing off every intricate design woven into the fabric of my dress. The crowd started cheering, oohing, aahing, squealing, and applauding me as I sat back down, just the slightest bit dizzy.

"Beautiful, just like a princess." Tabuu breathed. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today, though." He and I stood as he grabbed my hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, Princess Zelda of District 7!" My gloved hand flew in the air and the applause was so loud, the entire stage was shaking. I almost fell, it was so violent.

As I walked off the stage shakily, I realized that I was almost done. I was almost done with public appearances.

All that was left was the Hunger Games.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

My interview was awful.

* * *

"So, what do you think of the Capitol?"

_It's filled with hypocrites, freaks, and murderers! _I wanted to speak my thoughts, but managed to stop myself and instead said, "It's such a nice place filled with great people! I can't believe I'm actually here!"

Tabuu laughed gayly, and I wished I had a knife on me. "I'm glad you like it here! But, another question off topic, who did you ally with?"

"Well Tabuu," I plastered a fake smile on my face, "I allied with my husband, his brother, and two tributes from 10. They're very nice."

"That sounds great!" Tabuu grinned at the audience who laughed and cheered. "Well, that's all the time we have for you, but thank you for talking with us!"

_Did I have a choice? _I thought sarcastically while Tabuu and I stood, my hand being raised by his.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Princess Peach of District 9!"

* * *

Now I stood backstage again, silently cursing myself for acting so ditsy. _I think I overdid it just a bit too much, _I thought miserably, watching the screen where Tabuu was conducting his interview with Marth. Listening, I could tell my ally's plan was to seem prepared for the Games, kind, and protective over both family and friends.

It was a perfect plan, because the audience really seemed to be getting into it. The only thing was, I knew it wasn't an act. He was prepared for the Games, he was kind, and he was protective over his friends and family. I had learned all this in the time we had trained together, and the more I learned of him, the more I wanted to know.

He was mysterious, though not nearly as mysterious as bandana man, Ike. He was mostly silent, and I knew almost nothing about him. He and Marth acted like they knew each other, and I couldn't help but wonder if they did know each other back in their district.

I turned my attention back to the screen as high pitched screams began to ring out. Tabuu looked horrified, Marth confused. That is, until he looked up.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

He wasn't ready. He didn't know, not until it was too late.

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

His reflexes were fast, but not enough. I could only pray he was still alive.

* * *

**Pit, District 11**

Nobody was prepared for what happened. Not even Tabuu.

Nobody knew what caused it to fall.

* * *

**Ike, District 10**

I wasn't ready. He was crushed, and they wouldn't let me near him. I was his brother. I was his family.

Why was I kept away?

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

Marth looked up and saw the piece of the stage's rigging falling right towards him. He tried to dodge, but it was already too late. The rigging fell on top of him, and you could no longer see the tribute from ten.

Ike ran towards the stage, trying to get past the people from the Capitol. I ran too, I needed to know he was okay. Ike managed to push past them, me following the path he made. There was a curtain lowering in front of the stage, trying to keep the Capitol citizens from seeing what was going on.

Ike ran to the rigging on the stage, people from the Capitol already moving the huge piece of metal. He grabbed onto it, pulling it off of our ally with the help of the other people.

I wasn't ready for what I saw.

Marth lay on the stage, a pool of blood slowly trickling across the stage from his head. His outfit was torn and bloodied, his skin slowly turning pale in the bright lights that had managed to stay where they belonged.

I wanted to vomit, so I did. I staggered over to the edge of the stage and loosed the contents of my stomach. Once I could breathe normally again, I turned back to the scene I had just vomited over. Ike was kneeling next to Marth, grasping his shoulders tightly.

"Wake up…" I heard Ike whisper, tears streaming down his face freely.

It was then I knew that there was more between Ike and Marth then I'd been told.

I walked quietly over to Ike's side, looking down at Marth's limp body. He was dead, even I could tell, but Ike didn't seem to notice, or he didn't care. Maybe both.

"Marth, come on.." Ike continued talking, as if our ally could still speak. But he couldn't.

I jolted when I realized something. We only had 39 tributes now.

How was the Capitol going to fix this?

* * *

**Pit, District 11**

Somebody was dead. It wasn't supposed to start yet. The dying wasn't supposed to happen yet.

I hadn't even done my interview yet, but I didn't even want to in the first place.

I watched backstage as they carted the boy's body away and led the two tributes who ran to his side back to where the rest of us tributes stood, unsure of what to do now. The guy who ran to the dead tribute's side was covered in blood, presumably the dead tribute's. The girl who had run onto the stage looked pale, and was lightly clutching her stomach.

Whatever they'd seen, I was glad I hadn't seen it.

Another person walking over caught my attention. He had bright orange hair and dark purple eyes, and he had a smile plastered on his face. A smile. After everything that just happened.

"Tributes!" He addressed us all. "Don't worry! The tribute Marth is fine, the piece of rigging that fell wasn't lethal!"

The tribute was alive? _Even after the way I saw those other two tributes react?_

"It did give him quite the nasty bump on the head though." The man said, still smiling. "He doesn't remember the accident. We don't know what he remembers and what he doesn't, but so far it seems the only thing he's forgotten was the accident! The interviews will be continuing, so please, all tributes who haven't gone yet, reform the line the way you were before. Thank you!" And with that, the man turned and was gone, leaving me to wonder how the tribute, Marth, survived and how the rest of the interviews would go.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

He was dead. I knew for a fact he was dead. I saw his lifeless body, witnessed the blood flowing freely from his cracked skull.

He was dead.

How could he be alive?

I needed to talk to someone, anyone, who was trustworthy. So I walked up to someone I'd never met before and pulled her aside.

"Wha-?" Zelda gave me a look as I dragged her off to a corner of the room we wouldn't be overheard in.

"Listen, and listen closely, because I'm not sure if I'll be able to repeat this," I started, but Zelda held up a gloved hand.

"Why are you dragging me aside to tell me something if we've barely talked before?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I needed someone trustworthy to tell this to."

"How do you know I'm trustworthy?"

"You allied with those kids, you volunteered for your sister, need I go on?"

"You've been watching me?"

"Ever since you volunteered, I've- stole glances- at you, because I admired what you did. It doesn't matter now, though, because I know I can trust you with this."

"With what?" Zelda whispered, her face betraying the fact that she still wasn't fully trusting me.

"Marth. The tribute that had the piece of rigging crush him." I whispered, an urgency to my tone.

"But he wasn't crushed. They just told us he survived!" Zelda's voice was adamant.

"They lied!" I hissed quietly. "I saw him! He was dead! I know for a fact that he died! I saw his lifeless, pale, bloodied body before they took him away!" I was crying now, the memories hurt too much to remember.

"Ok," Zelda nodded, "but if he was dead, how could he be alive?"

"That's what I'm wondering! I needed someone else to talk to, someone trustworthy enough not to tell anybody else."

"Why can't we tell anybody else?" Zelda looked confused.

"Because," I sighed, "I think the Capitol brought him back to life."

* * *

**Link, District 7**

This was it. I sat in my hotel room, watching the screen of the television intently. I needed to know what my score was.

The interviews were long over, now they were announcing the tribute's scores.

As much as I hated it, since I shared this room with my mentor, he sat in a chair on the other side of the room, also watching the screen closely. Luckily, tonight he was sober, so I knew he wouldn't try to kill me.

Suddenly, a picture of Snake came up along with the number 10, and I sat forward in the plush purple armchair I was sitting in. Snake got a 10?! Just great.

The pictures continued flashing until, eventually, Toon Link's picture showed up along with his score, 8, signalling that they were showing District 7 tribute's and their scores.

Young Link, 8

Link, 11

._..I got an 11?_ I stared at the screen in wonder, contemplating what I had just seen. An 11. Next to my picture. It was too much to take in, and when Ghirahim walked over and gave me a pat on the back along with a good job, I just quietly murmured a quick thanks.

Then Zelda appeared on the screen, along with her score.

A 10.

I almost jumped for joy. We could definitely work with these scores!

More people flashed on the screen, including the tribute who had the accident earlier, Marth. He had an impressive 10, and I wondered if he showed his skills with the sword to get such a high score.

Finally, Pit showed up on the screen with an 11, and I knew he used his bow. He was amazing with that thing.

I sat, watching the rest of the scores flash on the screen and trying to not think about tomorrow.

Trying not to think about the Hunger Games.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

"Hold still."

I watched as a bald woman with tattoos of cats covering her scalp inserted a huge needle into my forearm. I winced from the pain as I watched a blinking light enter my arm.

"Wha-?"

"It's your tracker. We need to know where you are at all times in the arena." And with that, she walked away.

I sat in my seat on the hovercraft, my arm throbbing from the newest attachment to my body. This was it. We were flying to our deaths.

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I stood in the small, dark, underground room, adjusting the outfit the Capitol was having every tribute wear during the Games, a black jacket with a gray t-shirt underneath and plain black pants.

My breathing began to irregularize as my mentor floated over, signalling that it was time.

"Step into the tube, and you'll be transported up and onto the playing field." Dimentio sighed, gesturing with his paper like hand to the glass tube off to the side.

"I know." I spoke quietly, nervousness beginning to cloud my thoughts.

"Run."

I looked at my mentor curiously. "Run? Where?"

"When the time is finished counting down, run away from the cornucopia. Not towards it. Do you understand? Get your children allies and make a break for it."

"I- I understand." I nodded. "I'll get them away from the bloodbath."

"Good. Now step into the tube, it's time."

I smiled at Dimentio. "Thank you, for everything. For trying to help."

A small smile graced my mentor's features as he responded. "Thank **you**."

I stepped over to the tube. "For what?"

"For showing me what true courage looks like." His smile grew as I stepped fully into the tube and it closed around me. As I was lifted towards my certain death, my mentor mouthed two parting words.

_Good luck._

* * *

**Link, District 7**

I was lifted higher and higher, closer to the arena, I began to ready myself.

_The arena will be easy to figure out. _I tried convincing myself, but it just wasn't happening.

Bright white light surrounded me, and my vision took a moment to adjust.

"Welcome, tributes, to the 107th annual Pageant. Do not step off of your starting plate until the timer is done counting down. Thank you, and may the odds be ever in your favor." The announcer's voice echoed throughout the arena.

Once my vision completely cleared, and I saw the arena, I knew we were in for it.

* * *

**Pit, District 11**

The timer was counting down swiftly, and I was already planning on what I would grab first from the Cornucopia.

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

_Happy Hunger Games._

_And may the odds be ever in your favor._

* * *

**AN - Ok, even I think that ending was a little cruel...**

**Cliffhangers, ya gotta hate 'em! XD**

**Anyways, here's a list of the "main characters" scores, just in case you wanted to know :)**

**Zelda - 10**

**Link - 11**

**Pit - 11**

**Peach - 7**

**Ike - 9**

**Marth - 10**

**Toon Link - 8**

**Young Link - 8**

**Ness - 5 :(**

**Lucas - 5**

**Popo - 6**

**Snake - 10**

… **I think that's every "main character"... if I missed somebody, just let me know in the reviews!**

**Speaking of reviews :D Let's respond to them!**

**The Unspoken Prophet - I sort of gave Zelda her whip skills for multiple reasons. One, I like the whip! :D Two, when Zelda turns to sheik in SSB she had a chain she uses, so I sort of based it off of that… so I guess I made it up? XD Yeah, everything Ghirahim said then about the thread of fate and soaking it crimson with Link's blood, that was all direct quotes from the game! So was the "it fills my heart with rainbows" bit, I love it when Ghirahim says that in the game! XD**

**OrangeStreakedStar - Hope the interviews lived up to your expectations! Also, I know that feeling, when you're waiting for the next chapter of a fanfic you like :D**

**RandomObserver42 - Well, thank you for telling me your opinion! I guess the whip scene is fine, but still, I'm just not sure about it. Also, you think this is awesome? Thank you so much! :D**

**Zelda Charm - Maybe you DO sense some Midlink :) I'll never tell though, you'll just have to wait and see! :D Thanks, and yeah, if I had to vote, I would never be able to do it XD**

**Thanks to all my loyal reviewers, I get sooo happy everytime I get a new one! :D**

**Until the next chapter, goodbye!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Link, District 7**

_Just great. _I thought, looking at my surroundings as the timer ticked away.

We were standing on an island. It was kind of small, just big enough to hold the cornucopia and all forty tributes on their starting plates. But that wasn't the entirety of the arena. The island we stood on was surrounded by other islands, separated from each other by water. Each island had something different on it.

One was dominated by a huge snow-capped mountain with jagged peaks.

Another had a jungle with trees so thickly packed together, you couldn't see more than three feet in.

The one directly behind me was an arid desert I couldn't see the other side of.

We were surrounded by islands. _So that's how the Capitol wants to play it._

I looked at the timer as it ticked down the last seconds…

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Everyone was running. Most to the cornucopia, including me, but a few turned and ran to their allies or for one of the other islands.

I needed to get supplies and weapons. Me and Pit both agreed to run for the cornucopia, and I convinced Zelda's mentor, Dimentio, to convince my sister to get the kids and run for cover. Where they'd hopefully be safe.

Focusing back on the cornucopia, I noticed the bloodshed had already began. There were tributes everywhere, and I was having trouble finding a clear path to the supplies. I pushed past a short man just as a cannon sounded.

_First tribute lost. _I thought just as I noticed a sword coming at my chest.

Lunging to the side, I looked up at my attacker. He was tall and muscular, and his eyes were brimming with determination.

"Falcon," I muttered his name while dodging another swing of his sword, my back to the cornucopia.

"That's Captain Falcon to you, boy." My attacker smirked. He swung the sword heavily at my head, and I barely managed to duck. My mind raced, trying to think of how to take down my attacker, but before I could do anything, an arrow flew past me and hit Captain Falcon in his shoulder. Wincing, he dropped his sword and I quickly scooped it up. Seeing the sword in my hands, he turned and fled, using his fists as weapons instead.

I looked around me, trying to discover my savior, and my eyes fell on a brown haired boy with wings standing atop the cornucopia, an arrow strung in his newly acquired bow. Nodding at me, Pit flew quickly down to my side.

"We need supplies!" He had to shout to be heard over the clashing of swords and dying tribute's screams.

I had tried to keep track of the number of cannons already fired, but it was so chaotic, I lost track after the sixth.

_Boom_

Make that seven.

"Yeah! I'll go try and get some, you get more weapons!"

"Yep!" Pit ran off swiftly, leaving me to try and get past more tributes to the cornucopia and find supplies. Pushing past a few tributes, my eyes landed on a bright yellow backpack lying stranded near the mouth of the cornucopia. I knew it probably contained vital supplies, so I ran for it. A tall tribute (Ike, I think his name was) ran in front of me just as I was about to reach it, so I dove between his legs and scooped up the bright yellow object, just like when I had to reach my boomerang when I was demonstrating my skills. That felt like a lifetime ago, though it was just the other night.

Standing up, I was about to run for another bag when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Young Link was frantically jumping around, trying to dodge a spear that was repeatedly stabbed at him. The owner of said spear?

"Snake." I hissed his name as I ran to Young Link's side and used my sword to deflect the spear, the sound of metal hitting metal ringing through the air.

"Link. Get out of here." Snake's voice growled menacingly, trying to intimidate me into leaving. What he didn't know was I would gladly comply.

"Sure!" My response froze my opponent momentarily as I grabbed Young Link's hand and dragged him behind me in my quest for at least one more bag.

"Wait-!" Young Link was equally startled as I scooped up a neon purple bag and ran away from the bloodbath still raging at the cornucopia.

"Congrats kid," I yelled at the kid I dragged behind me, "you've got allies! Warn me if you spot my sister or the boy with wings!"

Young Link stopped running abruptly, almost causing me to fall as I turned to face him. "I already have allies, but thanks for the offer." He gave me a small smile as he pulled his hand away. "By the way, your sister and the boy with wings are over there." He pointed over to the edge of the island, where Pit and Zelda stood with the kids. "Good luck."

I stared at Young Link for a split second before I gave him a small smile back. "You too. Here, it's dangerous to go alone until you find your allies. Take this." I handed him the neon purple bag I had scooped up, causing his smile to grow.

"Thanks." He turned and ran back towards the cornucopia, where his allies probably were.

"You're welcome." And with that, I turned and bolted for my allies and left behind the kid who's life I just saved.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

_We had to go to this island, of all the islands we could have gone to. _I trudged through a mud puddle, following behind Ike and Marth, who were deep in conversation. Mario and Luigi were walking with me, and I was angry we had gone to the jungle type island.

_Why couldn't we have gone to the mountain island? Or the island of perpetual snow? Or even the island with the volcano! Any of them, and we had to go to the one island filled to the brim with the thing I hate most- Bugs._

I swatted a mosquito away from my face out of disgust as I tried to speed up a little so I could hear what my allies were talking about.

"Mar- you nee- wha- come o-"

"I tol- don- rememb- -tering m-"

It was hard to catch most of what they were saying, what with them whispering and me being preoccupied with swatting bugs away from my face. Though it wasn't hard to figure out what they might be talking about. The incident during the interviews still haunted me, and, by the way Ike had acted when it occurred, it was probably bugging him too. Had Marth died? Or was it just a "bump on the head", like the man with orange hair had said? Marth didn't even remember the accident, so any amount of bugging him about it wouldn't yield any answers.

I almost walked into Ike when he and Marth stopped walking abruptly.

"What are yo-" I started, but Ike cut me off with a wave of his hand and a finger to his lips. Immediately silenced, I watched Ike slowly start walking forward, terror slowly creeping up on me. What was going on?

A bluebird suddenly flying from a nearby tree caused me to gasp in surprise, and Ike breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just a bird." Ike chuckled lightly before continuing walking. Marth shook his head and followed behind our ally.

"Where are we going?" Mario spoke up for the first time since the beginning of the Games.

"We're getting as far away from the cornucopia as possible and finding decent shelter." Ike called over his shoulder.

It seemed like a good plan to me, so I followed behind without complaint. Well, without a complaint besides the bugs.

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I shivered, grasping my arms for heat. We had chosen to go to the island nearest us since we were attracting attention from our supplies and weapons, though we only had a few. The island nearest us? The island that was constantly being snowed upon. Now I was freezing as I walked beside the kids who we'd allied with, following behind Link and Pit.

"Ze- Zelda?" Toon Link looked up at me, shivering profusely. "A- are we gon- gonna start a f- fire? Or fi- find so- some shelter?"

"I don't know. I can ask Link, though. He knows." My teeth chattered as I called out to my brother. "Link?"

"Yeah, Zelda?" Link turned around to face me, walking backwards.

"What are we doing here? When are we getting warm?" I sneezed as I finished, a testament to the cold weather.

"We're going to walk a bit further, then we're going to try-" But my brother never finished his sentence. A white wolf the size of a horse tackled him from behind, sending them both to the ground.

The kids started screaming as me and Pit ran to Link to kill the wolf and free him. My brother was thrashing wildly, but the wolf pinned him to the ground using his huge front paws. Pit's only weapon was his bow, so he pulled an arrow from his quiver and sunk it into the wolf's side. This barely fazed the creature, all it served to do was distract him from Link. Unfortunately, his attention was now on Pit as he lunged from my brother's back to tackle Pit all within a matter of seconds.

My weapon was a boomerang, and I hardly thought that useful to kill such a creature. Instead, I threw myself onto the wolf's back, not sure what I'd do, only knowing I had to stop this animal from killing my ally, my friend. I punched and kicked frantically, trying to injure or distract the wolf, but it hardly noticed me. It just kept slashing at Pit, whose cries of pain were slowly becoming ever quieter.

Suddenly, the wolf reared back, throwing me off. A wild howl of pain echoed, and at first I thought he killed Pit, or perhaps one of the children. But as I picked myself up, I saw a sword embedded in the wolf's side, staining his white fur a dark red. The creature fell to the ground, dead, as Link ripped his sword out of it's body.

"Link." My voice was hoarse, though I didn't know why. "Pit."

My brother understood and kneeled by our ally's side while I walked shakily over to the kids, who all had looks of pure horror on their faces. I fell on my knees when I reached them, my legs giving out on me after what just happened. "It'll be alright." I tried reassuring them, but my voice cracked slightly. I didn't know what else to say, so I just repeated myself. "It'll be alright."

But I didn't know if it'd be alright. Actually, I knew it wouldn't.

All but one tribute was going to die.

The odds were not in our favor.

* * *

**Pit, District 11**

All I could feel was excruciating pain. Red hot pain that ripped through my body, burning. I didn't want to live. I wanted to die, anything to make this pain go away. Even the snow surrounding me did nothing to cool me, or to soothe my injuries.

Slowly, I peeled my eyes open and saw Link kneeling beside me.

"Wha-" I coughed, every fiber of my being begging me to just give up, to not bother.

"You got the wolf off of me." Link said somberly. "You dug an arrow into his side, which caused him to pounce on you instead. It almost killed you."

"Yeah, I can tell-" I broke into a coughing fit, racking my sides and causing my wounds to feel as though they had been set on fire.

"Just shut up and rest." Link chuckled darkly, possibly trying to lighten the mood but failing miserably.

"We need to keep moving." I started pushing myself up, but Link just pushed me back to the ground.

"You need to take a few minutes. Jeez, do you not understand you were almost killed?" Link gave me an incredulous look while grabbing the yellow backpack and digging through it.

"What are you doi-" More coughing, more red-hot burning.

"I'm looking for medicine, or perhaps something to bandage you with."

"You can't wa- waste the medicine on me." I began hacking, and I felt useless. One wolf, and I was down. If that's all it took to kill me, I'd be dead long before tonight.

"You're almost dead. You need something…" Link trailed off, slowly stopping rummaging through the bright yellow bag. "...There's nothing."

"What do you mean nothing?" I tried to sit up, but the pain just kept me down.

"There's no medicine or bandages. Looks like we have nothing to waste on you, Pit." Link, once again, chuckled darkly as he zipped the bag shut.

"If there's nothing to be done, we should keep moving," I groaned as I pushed myself up, and Link held out a hand.

"Tell me that after you've looked at your injuries."

I looked down and stifled a gag. The pain had been everywhere in my body, and I could see why. A huge gash across my chest. A bite mark in my left shoulder. Both legs covered in cuts at least two inches long. Not only that, but my hands were covered in cuts and scratches from trying to stop the wolf from injuring me too badly. Though I obviously failed.

"We should keep moving." I repeated myself, wanting to get going before something else could happen, like another wolf attacking or tributes finding us.

"Not until I stop the bleeding." Link ripped a piece of fabric off of the bottom of his gray shirt and started wrapping it around my shoulder before I could protest. I wanted to stop him, but just talking to him had taken all my energy away, so instead I just watched as he used both his and my clothes to bandage the rest of the wounds.

As he finished, I pushed myself up, my shoulder burning. Link raised his eyebrows, but he didn't protest. Instead, he stood and helped me up as well. As soon as I was on my feet, my vision went black and I staggered slightly, Link supporting me.

"I- I'm fine." I waved a hand to let Link know I was okay as my vision slowly cleared, though black dots still danced in the corners of my eyes.

"...If you say so." Link gave me a look that told me he didn't believe me, but I didn't care. We needed to keep moving. Though I was burning hot, my allies were probably freezing in the wind and snow.

I looked over to where Zelda knelt in the snow by the kids, her back facing me. She was silent, but the kids weren't. Lucas and Ness were talking to each other frantically, while Toon Link and Popo were sitting in the snow in front of Zelda, talking to her though she gave no response.

I walked (more like limped) over to my silent ally's side, placing my hand on her shoulder. She didn't jump at the sudden touch, nor did she flinch, she just sat still. The kids all looked at me with their huge, worried eyes when they noticed me standing there, my hand on her shoulder.

Zelda's head slowly turned, and as her eyes met mine, she stood, my hand falling from her shoulder.

"Pit? Are you alright?" I turned to see Popo watching me timidly, with the horror I saw earlier still present, yet subdued.

"Yeah, Popo." I gave him a small smile. "I'm fine."

I couldn't tell the kid the truth.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

This was it. We were about to find out. Who lived? Who died?

Me and my allies sat in a small clearing, watching the dark, night skies for the pictures of the fallen tributes to appear. They would be shown in the order they died in, meaning the first tribute shown was the first death, the second tribute the second, so on and so forth.

Suddenly, music rang throughout the arena, and the Capitol's symbol was projected in the night skies. What was it projected by? I had no idea. The symbol then disappeared, revealing the face, name, and district of the first fallen.

A picture of a man's face appeared, his huge nose adorned by a strange black mustache. He smirked in the sky, and his name and district appeared next to his picture.

_Wario, District 9_

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked to see Marth sitting next to me on the ground.

"Did you know him?" He whispered, his voice brimming with concern.

I was confused at first until I realized the man, Wario, had come from my district.

"No. No, I've never seen him before tonight." I whispered back. It was the truth, I hadn't even seen Wario during training.

I looked back to the sky just as Wario was replaced by a new tribute, the second death.

_Diddy Kong, District 14_

The monkey smiling in the sky made me sick to my stomach out of pity, but I kept my eyes on the sky. I needed to know who else died today.

_Jigglypuff, District 8_

_R.O.B, District 17_

_Sonic, District 15_

_Wolf, District 5_

_Pichu, District 8_

_King Dedede, District 2_

_Dr. Mario, District 9_

And with that, the symbol of the Capitol flashed in the night sky, letting the tributes know there had been no more deaths that day.

I sighed in relief. Though I barely knew Zelda, I didn't want her to die. Yet.

Cause we were all gonna die, anyways! Nobody would win. This wasn't a game.

It was death.

* * *

**AN - Ummm, is it just me, or is Peach going a bit insane? 0_o**

**Aaaanyways, the next chapter might be awhile, what with school and all...**

**Lets respond to some reviews!**

**OrangeStreakedStar - Thanks! Yeah, I'd probably die before the games too XD Yeah, I wondered what people were going to think of the whole Marth situation XD Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! :)**

**Zelda Charm - Plot twists, they are fun to write :) Yeah, those boomerang skills couldn't be underrated! Only the best scores for Link XD Hope you enjoyed this chapter! And yeaaah, I meant for Ike to have a score of 9, I'll go fix that ^.^' thanks for pointing that out!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Link, District 7**

The Capitol's symbol flashed in the sky once again, the clouds temporarily gone so we could see the fallen, before the symbol blinked out of existence, leaving all us tributes in the dark.

"Nine people dead." I whispered to myself. "Nine people forever gone, leaving behind their friends and family to mourn."

"It's sick." I turned to see Toon Link sitting in the snow next to me, shivering slightly. "Why do they do this to us? I just want to go home."

I stared at the kid sitting next to me in the freezing snow and wind, a single tear cutting down his cheek. My heart was aching at his predicament, one we all shared with him. "Who do you have waiting for you at home?" I looked back to the sky, stars glittering peacefully.

"My grandma and my younger sister, Aryll." Toon Link chuckled softly. "We all live together, ever since my parents died when Aryll was just a baby, and I was four. I barely remember my parents." I looked over at my companion, who had a faraway look in his eyes. "I always thought I'd give anything to meet them. That my life was incomplete without them. Now I just want to go home, to my sister and grandmother." He sighed, and I felt awful. It was killing me to hear this kid's story, a story that would most likely be left unfinished. Blank. "What about you?" His question brought me back to reality. "Who do you have waiting?"

I smiled, thinking of home. "I have a mother and eight siblings, unless you count Zelda. She makes nine."

Toon Link's eyes grew wide, and I inwardly chuckled at his expression. "You have NINE siblings!? That's crazy! How do you keep track of them all?"

I laughed quietly. "I've lived with them for years and years upon end, their names are not quick to escape me."

"Do you have any siblings my age?" Toon Link questioned me.

"How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Hmmm," I rubbed my chin, as if I actually had to think about the question posed to me. "Yes, yes I believe I do. Her name is Fado, and she's quite nice. I think you two would be great friends."

Toon Link smiled, and looked up to the night sky. "Yeah, I bet we would. Especially if she's anything like you and Zelda. You guys are two of the nicest people I've ever met, along with Pit."

His compliment shocked me. I was one of the nicest people he'd ever met? "...Thanks." I smiled. "You're one of the nicest people I've ever met."

"I know. I have that effect on people." It took me a moment to realize he was joking, and the look of confusion on my face caused Toon Link to start laughing. His laughter was contagious, resulting in me laughing along with him.

"Toon Link! Link! Be quiet!" Me and my companion turned to see Zelda standing in the mouth of the cave we were sitting in front of. After the wolf attacked, we decided we needed to find shelter from the snow and wind. After walking for what seemed like ages (but was only a few hours), we found a small hill of snow that was actually a rock buried underneath the snow, and we found a little cave in the back of it. The cave was just big enough for me and Zelda to stand in it, and Pit could as well, seeing as he was slightly shorter than us.

"Yep, we'll be quiet." I whispered back to my sister, who nodded her head and went to join the rest of our allies in the cave.

Toon Link sighed, almost contentedly, and stood, brushing off snow. "I think we should go into the cave. We don't know what comes out at night."

"Yeah, we probably should." I didn't want to, though. This moment, the one we were in, was peaceful. It was a haven from our dark thoughts, and from the dark actions of people.

I didn't want this moment to end.

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

I sat in our shelter for the night, a small cave that was only slightly warmer than outside because of the fact there was no wind. We didn't dare start a fire to warm up, though. That would attract too many dangers, unknowns we couldn't risk encountering. Pit sat next to me on the stone floor of the cave, Ness, Popo and Lucas on the other side, sleeping huddled together for warmth. Link was still outside with Toon Link, watching the skies though the tribute's faces were long gone.

I was worried. For many reasons, though the main one was Pit. I was sitting a good three feet from him and could still feel the heat emanating from his body. Why? Why was my ally burning up? These questions I couldn't answer, not without some information from Pit.

"Pit?" I whispered quietly, a small part of me hoping he wouldn't hear.

"Yes, Zelda?" The brown haired boy whispered back, and the miniscule part of me longing for him to not hear was silenced.

"Why are you burning?" I barely managed to get the words out.

"...I don't know what you're talking about." The cave was dark, but my eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting and I could tell from the look on his face that he was lying.

"Yes, you do. Why are you burning up? I can feel the heat emanating from you over here."

"..." Silence was my response.

"...That's what I thought." I whispered sadly. "That's what I thought."

Quiet laughter began echoing in our shelter, coming from outside. Slowly standing and walking to the mouth of the cave, I saw Toon Link and Link sitting side by side in the snow, laughing together.

"Toon Link! Link!" I called out softly. "Be quiet!"

My two allies turned to me, and Link looked… Sad, for lack of a better word. Toon Link, on the other hand looked almost… Content. I wondered what they could have talked about out here to cause such emotions for them. After a moment, Link whispered back to me. "Yep, we'll be quiet." Nodding my head in understanding, I turned and plunged back into the depths of the cave, leaving behind the cold and wind outside.

And walked into a mess.

I tiptoed over to where Pit was before to sit by his side and continue questioning him. I still had the slight hope that maybe he knew, maybe he could tell me… I looked around, confused for a moment. _Where is he? _I couldn't see my ally anywhere in the dark cave. A sudden hacking cough caught my attention, and I looked around the cave frantically only to find Pit lying on the floor of the cave by the wall, his back to me.

"Pit?" I whispered worriedly and knelt next to my ally to find he was covering his mouth with his hand, still coughing. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah." He managed to choke out, and I grabbed his hand for comfort. He tried to pull it away before I could grab it, but he was too late. As my hand clasped around his, it became covered in a warm, sticky substance. I pulled my hand away in horror as I realized the disturbing truth.

My ally was coughing up blood.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

_Well, this night can't get any worse. _I stared at the sky, lying down in the damp grass to try and get some sleep. Mosquitos were attacking me from all sides, and I had given up on swatting them away, there were too many of them. Rolling over onto my side, I watched Mario lying on the ground a few feet away from me, already asleep. All my allies were asleep, besides me and the one who had taken the first shift for guarding against tributes and… Other things.

I rolled again, settling my eyes on the tribute leaning awake against the tree trunk, hand on the hilt of his sword in case of trouble. His blue eyes darted around quickly, making sure nothing approached our makeshift camp. He didn't look very tired, and neither was I, so I decided to talk to him. I wasn't getting any sleep right now, anyways.

"Marth?"

At the sound of his name, Marth looked over to me, a surprised look on his face. "Peach? Why are you still awake?"

"Couldn't sleep. Bugs are attacking me."

My ally chuckled. "Bugs?"

"Yes, bugs! Nasty little creatures," a shiver went down my spine as I stood up to join Marth.

"A plague to the world," Marth said over dramatically.

"They will be our downfall," I placed the back of my hand to my forehead as I sat next to my ally, who was laughing quietly.

I liked the sound of his laugh. Light, airy. It almost had a… Regal feel to it.

We just sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the strange sounds coming from the jungle surrounding us.

"Weird, isn't it?"

"Hmm?" My ally looked at me strangely. "What's weird?"

"This." I stared at a tree in front of me, watching the shadows of leaves dance upon it from the moonlight. "This moment. This arena. These people. We have to kill, instead we ally. We have to slaughter, instead we protect. We have to fight, instead we run."

"And let's not stop."

Now it was my turn to be confused. "But, we have to! Sooner or later-"

"No." Marth cut me off. "We can't be forced. We are doing the right thing. I'd sooner give my life for another than take a life myself. I won't stop. I'll help my allies, I'll still protect, and I will run until there is nowhere left to run, or until I am needed by my friends."

I looked at his face, which was turned to the sky. He looked determined, his eyes brimming with his resolve. His blue hair looked like the darkest midnight, his eyes like two shimmering stars… His features pale, soft and yet sharp. He was the most conflicting man I'd ever met, and I couldn't stop what happened next. I couldn't prevent my feelings.

As I pulled him close, his eyes betrayed his surprise, but I didn't stop. I pulled him ever closer until our lips touched. He was pulling back, but I didn't notice. I couldn't notice. This was a moment in time I wanted to freeze, to keep forever and ever. I finally realized what I was doing, what he was doing, and pulled away quickly. Marth kept silent, but as tears rolled down my cheeks, I blurted out two words and ran back to where I was supposed to be sleeping. "I'm sorry."

* * *

**Link, District 7**

"We have to climb _that_?!"

"Yes, Link, we have to climb it." Zelda sighed, annoyed.

I stared at the mountain towering over me. We had left the snow island come morning, and had gone to the next island we found. Now we stood in the clearing at the base of the mountain.

"I don't want to climb the mountain!" Toon Link protested, looking at Zelda desperately.

"You and me both, kid." I muttered under my breath.

"Mountain climbing could be fun!" Popo piped up, cheery as ever.

"I have asthma!" Ness cried out quickly, but from the look on his face and his tone of voice, everyone could tell he was lying.

"Ness, I've been your best friend our entire lives and you have never said anything about having asthma!" Lucas argued with the black haired boy.

"You're lucky, Pit! You can just fly up!" Popo smiled at Pit, who gave a good natured smile back.

"I can only fly short distances at a time. Plus, with how windy it can get up there, I'd be blown around like a leaf in a windstorm." He chuckled lightly. "I'd have more luck on the ground with the rest of you."

"...Oh." Popo almost looked disappointed. Just as quickly as his smile disappeared, though, it reappeared. "Ok! It'll still be lots of fun!"

Zelda smiled at Popo and his enthusiasm, and I walked closer to her. "Why DO we have to climb this mountain, again?"

My sister groaned. "Because, Link, what tribute is gonna climb a mountain?"

"Exactly!" I argued back, whispering so no one could overhear us. "It's a veritable death trap! There's probably no food up there, and the supplies in the bag won't last forever, especially when split between seven people!"

My argument gave Zelda pause, and I felt sort of proud of myself for causing my sister to stop and think. Usually, it was the other way around.

"I see your point, but what tribute do you think would go up the mountain? It would also be the perfect hiding place!" Zelda still insisted upon her point, though I knew she was also taking my words into consideration. She wasn't dumb enough to just full on ignore me.

"I also see your point, but really, I think the dangers outweigh the benefits."

"Ok."

"What?" I was stunned. She gave up pretty quickly, something she was never inclined to do.

"Ok. I trust your judgement." Zelda looked at me like I was going crazy. "What, you think I don't trust you? Really Link, sometimes I wonder…"

"Sometimes **I** wonder…" I shook my head in complete wonderment at my sister's slight change of personality.

"AAAHHHHHH!"

Me and Zelda turned quickly at the scream, each drawing our weapons.

What we saw momentarily shocked us.

We were under attack.

* * *

**Pit, District 11**

I shot an arrow at my adversary who easily dodged.

He was a tall man, muscular and armed with nothing but his fists. If I remembered correctly, his name was Falcon. Excuse me, _Captain _Falcon. I remembered him being adamant on being called a captain, for some reason unbeknownst to me.

Ducking under one of his fists, I knew my bow wouldn't be useful at such a close range, so instead I grabbed two arrows and wielded them like daggers. It wasn't perfect, but it was the only tactic I had.

All the while, my wounds were burning so badly I thought they had burst into flames. Sidestepping a fist coming at my gut, I spun around, swinging my right hand and managing to make a gash in Captain Falcon's side. Hissing in pain, he lunged at me, hands outstretched and aimed at my neck. I ducked quickly, but not quick enough. His meaty hands closed tightly round my neck, and I began losing air. Luckily, he forgot of the arrows I held.

In a flash, my hands flew up at the captain's arms, giving him two long gashes. Crying out in pain, he dropped me to the ground, and I quickly rolled away before jumping to my feet again.

And then a voice growled from behind me.

"Captain Falcon, I told you I wanted him. Go and fight those kids or something, this brat is mine."

Without turning, I immediately knew who it was.

"Snake." I muttered, turning to face my aggressor.

He smirked at me. "Hey, Pit." He spat my name out. "Lets you and me settle this, here and now, hmmm?"

"Sure, why not." I smiled indifferently at him, causing his glare to harden.

As we charged each other, Snake's weapon still unbeknownst to me, I had only one thought in my mind.

_Snake is here for revenge, and in the shape I'm in, I'm not entirely sure he won't get it._

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

"Agh!" I gave out a small yell as I threw my boomerang at my opponent, the towering, menacing Ganondorf.

"Give up, _Princess._" Ganon growled at me as he easily ducked beneath my projectile. "I can easily avoid your pitiful boomerang."

I knew it was the truth. This boomerang wasn't getting me very far against Ganondorf, armed with only his fists. Unfortunately, those fists packed quite the wallop. "I won't just give up," I stated as bravely as I could muster. "I will fight to the end."

"That could be sooner than you think," Ganon smirked and rolled over to me, standing and grabbing me by the neck. I had tried to dodge, but I failed miserably. As his grip tightened, there was nothing I could do besides kick and punch wildly, hoping I might cause him to let me go. Any hope of that happening diminished when my vision started going black.

"Goodbye, dearest Princess Zelda." Ganondorf chuckled darkly.

"Goodbye, you overgrown pig!" I wanted my last breath to be one of defiance.

"As you wish," He tightened his grip exponentially, and my breaths were much shorter when suddenly I was falling to the ground. I landed harshly, staring up at the sky and taking raspy breaths. Looking to my opponent, I saw he was being attacked by none other than my dear brother.

I smiled slightly as Link kept slashing at Ganondorf and cutting him. Standing shakily, I noticed the kids were all attacking two common opponents, the tall, quick Captain Falcon and the huge, lumbering Bowser. The kids were doing ok, but they were having trouble getting hits in with the small daggers we gave them for protection. Link was doing fantastically against Ganondorf, but the kids needed some help… Then I realized, where was Pit during all of this? I looked around frantically until I saw the winged boy defending himself against his attacker with two arrows he weld in his hands. His opponent?

"Oh no." I whispered as I watched Snake almost kill Pit with one slash of a long dagger. Pit dodged quickly, though, and swung his two arrows at Snake who was also able to dodge. I needed to help, but who? The kids, who were doing ok? Or Pit, who was also doing ok?

I decided quickly, I knew who my allies would want me to help. I quickly and quietly whipped my boomerang at my new opponent, who didn't see it coming.

"Ow!" Captain Falcon pulled the boomerang out of his right shoulder, it got wedged in there pretty tightly. Apparently, my boomerang was sharper than it looked. Spinning quickly, the captain saw me standing a little ways off, my arm still in the position it took when flinging the boomerang.

"Hello, Princess Zelda." Captain Falcon hissed, walking towards me, leaving Bowser on his own against the kids.

"Really? Do you people have no originality?" I smirked at my opponent, though on the inside I just wanted to run away. "I know I was dressed as a princess for the chariot rides and the interviews, but come ON! I've heard the whole 'Princess Zelda' thing from almost everybody!"

Captain Falcon smirked right back, my boomerang still gripped tightly in his meaty hands. "Maybe that's because you look like a princess." And with that, he lunged at me, the hand gripping my old weapon holding it out like a dagger at my throat. I quickly sidestepped, causing the captain to stumble forward a bit. I didn't let him regain his balance, though. I ran at him and tackled him, sending us both to the ground. Now that the captain was dazed and confused underneath me, I was able to rip my boomerang from his grip, causing the insides of his fingers to be cut open and blood to be spilt.

"Gah!" Captain Falcon threw me off and stood, grasping his injured hand with the uninjured one. "So that's how you want to play it, princess. Well, two can play at that game." He ran at me, pushing me two the ground before I could move. I tried to stand, but the captain sat on my legs and pinned my arms to the ground, preventing me from moving.

"Goodbye, princess." He released one of my arms, but used his now free hand to begin choking me. I tried clawing at him with my free hand, but it did nothing to stop my aggressor.

Just as my vision was going black again, Captain Falcon released my throat, diverting his attention to the mountain behind me. Once I could breath again, I was able to push the captain off of me, though he didn't put up much of a fight. His gaze was still caught behind me as I stood and turned to run away. Unfortunately, as I caught sight of the mountain I realized that wasn't going to happen.

Everyone had stopped fighting to witness the terrifying sight that was rumbling down the mountain side, roaring loudly.

"Avalanche." I whispered to myself as the snow and rocks tumbled ever closer, threatening to crush us all.

* * *

**AN - I am cruel. I am cruel. Sorry for the cliffhanger! Also sorry for the shortness of this chapter, school has been consuming my life and I didn't want to keep all you lovely readers waiting TOO long for the next chapter!**

**Also, just wanted to say that the whole Marth and Peach thing even surprised ME. I wasn't expecting that to happen, but I guess my story just felt like writing itself!**

**Thanks to all you people who faved/followed! I loves it when someone new faves/follows!**

**BREAKING NEWS - We interrupt your regular broadcast to bring you a program straight from my laptop called "Responding to Reviews":**

**OrangeStreakedStar - Peach may be mentally unstable (just kidding XD), but she's actually one of my favorite characters to write! And you didn't care when I killed Pichu?! I literally DIED when I put Pichu as a death! But the rest of them were only mildly sad... Actually, killing Wario was a relief XD juuust kidding, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Guest - Thaaanks! I personally thought I sucked at action sequences, so to know that you can understand them and enjoy them gives me GREAT pleasure! :D And if this WAS a movie, I would buy it. I would buy it in a heartbeat. I mean, this is a combination of two of my favorite things, sooo. Yeah. And my sister made the EXACT same point as you when she learned of Peach going a bit... craaaaazy. I was surprised at how similar each of your responses were!**

**We now return you to your scheduled program. (Meaning, hope I get the next chapter out soonish! XD)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Zelda, District 7**

I couldn't stand here any longer. I needed to move, to run for my life. My legs didn't seem to understand my plight, however, and kept me rooted to the same spot I had been standing in when I first saw the avalanche.

"AAAHH!" A scream rang through the air, and I spun around quickly, finally able to move. Toon Link was fighting off Bowser on his own, Popo was on the ground, and Ness and Lucas were nowhere to be found.

"TOON LINK!" I screamed my young ally's name and ran towards him, gripping my boomerang tightly.

I flung my boomerang at Bowser just as he raised his giant, clawed hand to bring it down on Toon Link. My weapon sliced open his hand and flew back to me, causing the giant to roar in pain while I joined my ally.

"Where's your dagger?" I asked him quickly, watching Bowser should he try anything.

"I- I don't know." Toon Link began slightly hyperventilating. "Bowser knocked it out of my hands."

"Where are Ness and Lucas?"

"I don't know! One second they were with me, next I couldn't find them anywhere!"

I continued watching our opponent while I talked to Toon Link. "Go check on Popo, I'll take care of this thing."

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Toon Link ran and knelt by Popo's limp form, then focused my attention on Bowser just as one of his clawed hands came at my face. I barely managed to duck before his hand could connect with my head, and decided that at such close range I should use my boomerang as a dagger instead. Gripping my weapon as tightly as I could without cutting myself, I lunged to the side, avoiding another swing at my chest, and dashed forward, makeshift dagger swinging.

The roar of pain that followed almost deafened me. I had managed to create a deep gash in the monster's side, and he grasped wildly at the wound, red liquid quickly spilling over his sharp claws. Bowser looked up at me, a deadly look in his eyes.

"This isn't over." He growled roughly before turning and running to Captain Falcon, who was still staring at the avalanche.

The avalanche. I quickly remembered what had frozen me earlier and turned to the mountainside. The ground was shaking violently, and the rocks and snow had almost reached the bottom.

Realizing how little time we had, I turned to Toon Link, who had left Popo and was running back to me.

"He won't wake up!" the blonde boy gasped between sobs. "He won't wake up!"

I knew Popo was most likely dead, so I grabbed Toon Link's hand, the avalanche so close if we stayed still one more second we'd have no chance of survival. "We have to go." I began running, Toon Link dragging behind me at first but eventually running alongside me.

"What about the others?" he had to shout to be heard over the cacophony that was raging. "Where are they?"

"I don't know!" I yelled, leading my small ally to the edge of the island. "We'll find them later! We need to get off of this island NOW!" With that, my ally and I waded into the ice cold water at the edge of the island.

Earlier, when we traveled between islands for the first time, we discovered that the water wasn't as deep as it looked in some parts. I could traverse between islands and only wet halfway up my calves. The water was deeper for Toon Link and the other children, since they were shorter, so me, Link, and Pit had all decided to carry our children allies across, Link taking two of them while me and Pit carried only one.

Since the water was deeper for Toon Link, he was walking slower than I, so I quickly scooped him up to pick up the pace. Running and clutching the blonde boy tightly, I bolted for the island right in front of me, not caring where we ended up, as long as it was safe from the avalanche.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

"Where do you think they are?" Ness was talking to Lucas nervously as they walked next to me. We had made it off of the mountain island, but were separated from our allies in the process. Now we were traversing a strange island, if you could even call it an island. We were inside a maze of caves. Dark, stuffy, cold. The light that we saw by was so dim you'd think there was none, but just enough to see where we were going. Huge, rough stalactites and stalagmites towered around us as we plunged deeper into the maze.

"Link?" I turned to face Lucas, who had a nervous look on his face. "Sh- Shouldn't we get out of here now? I me- mean, it's kind of d- dark in here, and we don't know where the others a- are…" I knew the blonde boy's constant stuttering was caused by fear, though I didn't know what he was currently afraid of. Was it the dark? The tight quarters?

"...Yeah, we're gonna get going soon…" I lied to Lucas and Ness, not wanting them to panic if I told them the truth, that we were lost in this gigantic maze.

"Ok," Lucas nodded, still looking around us nervously.

I didn't blame him. The light was so dim, I could barely see a few yards in front of me. "Stay close." I beckoned them closer to me so I wouldn't lose them. I would try backtracking to find where we had entered the caves, but I wasn't entirely sure we weren't followed off of the mountain island. By who, I didn't know, I didn't even know if we were actually being followed.

All was quiet as me and the two children trekked silently through the dank caves. I would continue looking behind me, trying to make sure that no one was there, and Ness noticed.

"Link? Why do you keep looking behind us?" The black haired child looked behind us and then back to me.

What was I going to say to get myself out of this one? "Um, I'm just trying to figure out where we are.."

Ness nodded. "Ok." I could tell from his tone of voice he was unsure, though.

"Yes, because the children believe THAT excuse."

I whipped around at the new voice, unsure of who I would see behind us.

But I knew I wasn't expecting to see _him._

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

_This forest is bugging me… _I inwardly sighed at the problem I'd gotten me and Toon Link into when I ran as far into the first island we came upon as I could. It was a gigantic forest, and as much as I loved the towering trees and the crisp smells, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was… Off.

As me and Toon Link trekked through the forest, unsure if we were going towards our allies or away, my thoughts turned to the first night of the games, in the cave…

* * *

_My ally was coughing up blood._

"_P- Pit?" I stuttered, rubbing the warm liquid in between my fingers. "Wh- what?"_

"_What do you mean 'what'?" Pit whispered softly. "It is what it is. I'm not going to last long, I can already tell. I'm just glad it's me."_

"_What do you mean you're glad it's you?!" I was angry now. "You're glad you're dying?!"_

"_Yeah, I'm glad it's me dying instead of Link." He looked to the entrance of the cave, where we could see my brother and Toon Link standing in the snow, laughing and smiling. "You two are…" He paused for a moment, almost as if the words eluded him. "...Close. I've never seen two siblings closer. I'd hate for that to end." He smiled gently in the dim light, but his eyes were filled with sadness. "I'd rather it be me than him. I'd rather it be me over any of you."_

_Silence filled the small cave as his words sank ever deeper into my mind. I wanted to remember them, remember his willingness._

"_But, I don't want you to die either." I stared at Pit, wanting my words to have as much effect as his did on me. "We need you. You're great with the bow, you're great with the kids. You're a great person, Pit. And to take you from the world before your time, to take any of us from the world before our time, is an injustice and a crime and should be treated as such!"_

_At my words, which came out much more angry than I thought, Pit fell silent for a moment, staring back at me in the dark cave. Before either of us could break the silence, though, Link and Toon Link re entered the cave, causing me and Pit to silently agree that the conversation was over. For now, anyways._

* * *

The memory almost hurt to think about, but I couldn't stop myself. He was almost too willing to die back in the caves, I couldn't help but wonder what his life back in District 11 was like. Who were his parents? Did he have any siblings? Why was he so ready to die for us and to never see his District, his family again?

I didn't know, and I almost didn't want to know.

Shaking my head to clear my mind, I focused back on the direction me and Toon Link were walking.

"Are we lost?" Toon Link broke the silence, and I gave him a small nod.

"Yeah, but don't worry. We'll get out of here soon." I didn't tell him that if we didn't find the others soon, we would most likely die of starvation or dehydration. Link had all the supplies in his bag.

* * *

**Pit, District 11**

_There was a light. I don't know why it was there, or how, but there it was. It glimmered softly in the darkness, calling out to me. For what, I didn't know. All I knew was the light looked so peaceful and brilliant, it would be wrong to not go towards it. Yet, it would also be wrong to approach, so I sat in the darkness, watching from afar, not knowing what I should do._

_Mom would know. If she were there, she would tell me if the light is a safe haven or a forbidden thing, untouchable and unattainable. She would tell me what to do. And then, all of a sudden, she was there._

"_Mom?" I questioned, watching as the lady with long, flowing green hair and emerald eyes smiled gently at me._

"_Of course I'm your mother, Pit! Has a few days away from me really completely erased the memory of me from your mind?" She laughed cheerily, immediately bringing my spirits up. Her laugh was so bright, she could clear the storm clouds on a rainy day. Everything about her was bright, her laugh, her smile, her eyes. Even her name was bright, Palutena._

"_What should I do?" I asked, looking from my mom to the light and back again._

"_Oh, Pit!" My mother laughed again. "The light is a precious thing. It is both reachable and unattainable. It wouldn't be wrong to approach, but it also wouldn't be wrong to stay here. For, you see, the light is here as a choice. Stay? Or go?" She gestured with her hands back at the light, asking what I'd choose._

"_What's the difference?" I was getting more and more confused with each second that passed._

_My mother smiled again, but this time, it was filled with sorrow. "In the light, there is peace. But there is no one there who is still alive. You are being given the choice, because, well, you're dying. Do you go back to the Hunger Games? Or escape now?"_

_Now I was almost ready. I almost knew what each entailed and which choice was the better. All I needed to clear up the rest was one question, the answer to which would decide my fate._

"_What about you?"_

_My mother laughed quietly. "I am alive. I am not in the light, so if you go, I will not be there." She slowly started backing away from me. "Choose."_

_I didn't need anything else. Even though I'd probably die, and the Games were nothing but a huge torture chamber, if my mother knew I just gave up, it would crush her heart._

"_I choose to go back."_

_And a smile, the warmest, saddest smile ever, graced my mother's lips._

"_As you wish."_

* * *

**AN - Shortest chapter yet? I think so XD Sorry to all who wanted more, you'll just have to wait! And sorry for the long wait, school is the most horrible thing ever XP**

**And to those who don't understand the whole Pit scene at the end, all will be explained soon! And I know, Palutena is Pit's **_**mother**_**?! Well, I wanted her to be. Besides, Link and Zelda are siblings, Ike and Marth are brothers, and Mario and Peach are married! You should know by now I like doing stuff like that XD**

**Speaking of Peach, the whole Marth situation should be explained next chapter (hopefully!)**

**I just realized, we're still only on day two of the games! All that happened in two days! O.o**

**And congrats to all who saw that reference in the very last line! The Princess Bride is one of my most favorite movies EVER! If you didn't catch it, then sorry for referencing stuff you don't care about! XD**

**Review responses:**

**OrangeStreakedStar- Yeah, sorry about the cliffhanger! And yeah, it's an avalanche! Uh ohhhh XD**

**Zelda Charm- And it shall be the death of me as well. And yay! I was hoping the chapter would be emotional, that's what I was going for! :D And yesss, everything I write, there's at least two or three things I wasn't planning on putting in originally but they worked their way in somehow XD And the whole Peach/Marth thing will (hopefully) be continued on next chapter! And I know, I'm so upset that she's cheating on Mario! He's been nothing but kind to her (I assume? Never really went in depth on that XD)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Peach, District 9**

_Oh, why why WHY was I so stupid?! _I mentally beat myself up. _I'm married! I love Mario… Right? He loves me, I can't hurt him… Though, if he finds out about last night, he'll probably be fuming…_

I glanced over at Mario, who was walking by my side, staring at his feet.

_Why would he stare at his feet? _My mind immediately went to the worst thought it could comprehend at the moment. _Marth must have told him! He must have! _I brought my eyes to Marth, who walked side by side with Ike ahead of Luigi, Mario, and I. Ever since last night, he avoided my gaze and my general presence. Not like I blamed him, what I had done was crossing the line.

_I have to talk to him about it. _I decided, knowing me and Marth had to settle the awkward feelings between us. These Games were a matter of life and death, and anything uncomfortable between us had to be stopped. _I'll approach him tonight. Yes. Hopefully, he'll understa-_

A sudden scream ripped through my thoughts, and a cannon went off.

All of us froze in our tracks, and Ike turned to face Marth.

"That was way too close to have come from another island…" He tried whispering so only Marth heard, but I was able to pick up on what he said.

"Then we're not alone." I crossed my arms, pulling them close to me in a defensive stance, afraid of which other tributes were on this jungle island.

Both Ike and Marth turned to face me, but before Ike could answer me, another, louder shriek tore through the air. A shriek that didn't sound even remotely human. And it came from the direction we had been walking towards.

"Move!" Ike ordered, and I wasn't about to refuse.

All five of us turned and ran from whatever was on the island.

Another screech, even louder this time, came from behind us.

It was hunting us.

And catching up quickly.

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

Toon Link sat, his back leaning against the thick trunk of the tree we sat under. The sun had beat down on us so harshly, we needed to stop for a bit and catch our breath. In the distance, we heard shrieking sounds followed by a cannon, and I couldn't stop myself from imagining the worst case scenario, one of my allies dying a painful death…

"Zelda?" I looked to the blonde haired child, whose mouth was turned downwards into a frown. "Who... Who do you think died? You don't think it was Link, do you? Or Pit? Or Ness-"

"Shhhh." I quietly hushed Toon Link and scooched to his side, wrapping one arm around his small shoulders. "Don't think like that."

"But I can't help it!" His breaths became ragged, and fat tears slowly streaked down his cheeks. "Popo is already dead, and Pit is coughing up blood-"

"How did you know?" I started beating myself up inside. We must have been too loud in the cave and Toon Link could hear from outside, the last thing either of us had wanted to happen. We didn't want them to have more to worry about. I didn't even tell Link yet, I couldn't bring myself to for some reason. But Toon Link was with Link, surely if Toon Link could hear my brother could as well?

"I heard you two talking in the cave." The child was barely whispering. "I- I'm not sure if Link heard. But it scares me, Zelda. Why would he be coughing up blood?"

"We think it might be because of the wolf." I told him the truth, which surprised me. I was sure the truth of the matter would only scare him more, but better to tell him now then to wait until later.

"...Oh." That was all he said, plunging us both back into the silence.

Looking to the sky, I decided we'd been sitting too long, we needed to keep moving. I stood and lightly stretched, and Toon Link quickly followed suit.

"Ready?" I questioned, but all I got in response was a nod of his head. Together, we both walked among the tall trees of the forest, the silence so thick I was sure that I could cut through it with a sword if I had one. Occasionally I glanced down at my companion, who stared straight ahead, trying to hide his fear.

A rustle of leaves startled me for a moment, but I quickly wrote it off as the wind.

More rustling. I glanced around, unsure if I'd see anything, but I didn't, which only served to feed my growing fears even more. Picking up the pace, more distant, inhuman screams and another two cannons going off startled me. I was distracted long enough to not notice the arrow sailing at us from somewhere in the trees before it was too late.

* * *

**Link, District 7**

"Yes, because the children believe THAT excuse."

I quickly whipped around at the new voice, Ness and Lucas quickly turning as well. I was frozen for a moment, unsure how I was seeing who I was seeing. Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe I was already dead. Nothing could logically explain what I saw.

"Link? Are you ok?" Dimentio tilted his 2D head, as if it was completely normal that he was there, floating in the caves when he wasn't a tribute but a mentor. My sister's mentor.

"Link?" Lucas whimpered. "I don't remember him being a tribute."

"That's because I'm not." Dimentio briefly glanced at the child, then turned back to me. "I'm here because of your sponsors, Link. You have a few very rich ones, thanks to your impressive score of eleven, and they paid enough money to have me send a projection to you."

"Huh?" I was lost. What did he mean, they 'paid enough for him to send a projection'?

Dimentio sighed, then continued. "You know how your sponsors can send you food or medicine throughout the Games?" I nodded, everyone knew that. "Well, there's something else they can send, if they pay a lot of money. They can have a projection of the tribute's mentor sent to them so that the tribute, you, can ask one question of their mentor."

"But, you're not my mentor." I pointed out. "You're Zelda's mentor. Shouldn't I be receiving a projection of Ghirahim?" Even though I never wanted to see the man again, I was curious why it wasn't him.

"He was, to be blunt, too drunk to give you any intelligible answers." _Ahhh, _I thought, nodding my head in understanding. _That creep is drunk again. Just great._

"Anyways," Dimentio waved his flat hand around, "you can ask one question of me. It can be about anything, the island you're currently on, what's going on back in your district. The only thing you cannot ask about is anything about the other tributes." My sister's mentor tilted his head. "So? What shall you ask of me?"

I thought for a moment. _I can't ask about Zelda, Pit, Toon Link, or Popo… _"How do we get out of these caves?"

Dimentio smiled briefly. "Go North, West, South, West."

And with that, he flickered out of existence, leaving me to wonder what the HECK he meant.

* * *

**Peach, District 9**

_What is it? What is it? _I couldn't stop asking myself the same question in my head over and over. "What is it?"

"I don't know…" Mario panted, and I realized I must have spoken aloud. Another ear splitting screech echoed behind us, and if I could have run any faster, I would have. Looking behind me, I noticed that Marth and Ike had stopped running. _What the?! _I thought, wondering why the heck they'd stop running at a time like this, then I noticed they had drawn their swords, the only two swords we'd managed to score at the cornucopia. I had only been able to grab a slingshot, and I knew that would probably be completely useless against whatever was hunting us.

As we ran back to join them, Ike held a finger to his lips. Everyone immediately froze, listening for the creature. Silence closed in around us, which made me even more nervous. Where had it gone?

An awful, blood chilling shriek burst from behind me, and I turned to find myself face to face with a huge, lizard type creature. Wielding a sword taller than I was with one, sharp clawed hand, its mouth was filled with row upon row of razor sharp teeth and a long, reptilian tongue. But all I could stare at was the eyes. Those yellow eyes with the black pupils that stared into mine, freezing me where I stood. Even as he raised his sword, I could only stare, frozen where I was.

As he brought his sword down on my head, I remembered my dream back in my district, the dream where I couldn't save the child.

But this time, instead of the sword taking my life, the sword took another's life. I was pushed out of the way. Why did he do that? He couldn't have. I wasn't worth it, he should have lived, I was the one who should have fallen to the creature's blade.

"M- Mario?" His name escaped my lips as I watched him fall to the ground, the sword having done it's job. Shrieking, the creature turned from my husband as the cannon burst my eardrums. _No, _was my only thought. He wasn't dead. I knew he wasn't. So why was the cannon going off? The capitol must have made a mistake, or another tribute died. Mario wasn't dead! He was alive and well, I just had to wait for him to stand up, to say "I'm okay, don't cry" in that ridiculous Italian accent he shared with his brother. Yes, yes. All he had to do was stand up.

"Come on, Mario!" I said in a voice that sounded choked, though I didn't know why it would. "Let's get up! Today's not the day to show the world how lazy you are!" Marth grabbed my hand, bringing my attention away from my husband briefly. "Look how lazy he is!" My throat felt like something was lodged in it. Maybe I had a cold. "He's always been this lazy!" A fat, hot tear streaked down my cheek, and I lightly touched it with my fingers.

"Peach." Marth looked me directly in the eyes. "Now's not the time. You have to snap out of it." I watched his eyes slightly glistening, and I began wondering why he'd cry. Mario wasn't dead! _I just told him that!_

"Marth," I tilted my head, "why are you crying? Mario is oka-" But before I could finish, the blue haired boy looked away from me quickly, then left to go fight another of the lizard creatures. Apparently, the first one brought friends along.

_That was rude! Marth really needs to learn some manners! _I thought to myself, then I knelt by my sleeping husband. "Mario? Time to get up!" Another scream, accompanied by a lizard's squeal and a cannon. Turning, I noticed Ike was on the ground, red liquid seeping from a huge gash on his forehead. "Oh, lookit, Mario! Ike wanted to nap too!"

* * *

**Link, District 7**

"Go North, West, South, West?" I groaned, peering around the dark cave. "Doesn't he know we can't tell one direction from another in here?!"

"There has to be something about it, a hint, a clue, something to get us out of here." Ness said, being more cheerful than I could have been in that moment.

"Maybe North just means we go straight, West to the left, South backwards, and West left again?" Lucas speculated, his logic not really making any sense. Why would we go backwards?

"I really have no idea," I sighed, "but I guess any ideas are better than none." I peered around the area until I spotted a small tunnel ahead of us. "Might as well try it," I muttered under my breath before slowly walking into the cramped tunnel, unsure if this would do anything at all or just get us even more lost.

On and on the tunnel seemed to stretch, the end nowhere in sight. I was considering turning around again when a strange smell caught my attention.

"What's that smell?" Lucas asked, looking to Ness.

"I dunno." The black haired boy shrugged, keeping his attention on the tunnel ahead.

Something was off, I could tell. This smell was strange, out of place. Why couldn't I place it though? It was nagging at the back of my mind, lingering on the tip of my tongue. The smell was bothering me so much I didn't notice the light before he did.

"Hey, guys!" Ness said eagerly. "Look! The tunnel is getting brighter! Maybe we're almost out!"

I brought my attention from the smell to the light. Yes, it was getting brighter, but I didn't think it was the light you'd get from the outdoors. No, this was a bit too red…

_Crap! _I thought worriedly, finally placing both the smell and light. _Smoke. And where there's smoke, there's fire._

* * *

**Zelda, District 7**

There's not a loud thumping noise. No, it's more of a dull sound, barely discernable to the ear. I don't know if I'd even have heard it if I didn't watch it hit it's mark.

The pain, well, that I can't attest to. You'd have to ask Toon Link what that's like.

The arrow from the trees sailed silently through the air, and I didn't even notice it until it was lodged in my small ally's chest. Only a second I stayed in my shock, I spun around after that to look for the arrow's origin. The culprit was behind a few trees, but I could tell who they were. Their name, however, escaped me. A tall, womanly figure. Blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail.

The bow with an arrow already notched and aimed at me. The string was so taut, I didn't know how it hadn't snapped yet. I made no move, not entirely out of my shock. A cannon going off barely registered in my mind, and when the woman looked around frantically at the sound, I knew she still had allies. Lowering her bow, she looked at me one last time, mouthing five words before she spun on her heels and left me. "_Until the next time, Princess."_

I stood still a moment longer, staring at where she had been standing not a second before, when a quiet groan from behind snapped me out of the shock. I turned to find Toon Link leaning against a tree, left hand holding the area around his wound.

"Ze- Zelda?" He whispered, looking down at the wound with eyes that almost looked glassed over.

I barely even remember moving to his side, or how he slid down the trunk until he sat at the base. I barely remember how I knelt by his side, gently caressing his forehead. I do remember, however, his pain, and the tears stinging my eyes relentlessly.

"Are you okay?" His innocent eyes seemed to bore into mine as he asked me the question I should have been asking him.

"Yeah." Fat, hot tears slowly began rolling down my cheeks.

"Who- who shot the arrow?" He asked quietly, looking at me.

"Why?" My throat felt hoarse, rough. "It doesn't matter who."

"I want to for- forgive them." His blonde hair seemed paler, his eyes duller. "They p- probably didn't want to shoot me."

"The woman." I choked on my words, my mouth tasting like salt from the tears rolling in. "The lady with the blonde hair."

"Oh, Samus." He almost smiled, though I had no idea why. "Well, then, I forgive you, Samus." And he fell silent.

My tears poured like a river.

"Zelda?" He looked at me, and a small gasp of relief escaped me. He was still alive.

"Yeah, Toon?" I could barely choke the words out.

"Can- can you hum something?" He looked up at the leaves overhead. "My Grandma would always hum at night, when I couldn't sleep." Toon Link smiled. "She's the best."

And with that, I began his melody. It was a simple, three note tune. A tune that quietly echoed around us.

"That's so pretty," he looked to me, lightly crying and smiling at the same time. "Just like you are. I could fall asleep to that. Does it have a name?" I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak. "Well, every good tune needs a name. I think we'll call it _Zelda's Lullaby_. Perfect." He fell silent once again, and for some reason, I knew. I didn't even need the reassurance of the cannon going off.

He was gone.

The tears were hot and fat, and they didn't end for what seemed like months to my sorrowed mind. The pain was hot and hard, and I realized in this moment, I wasn't just mourning for Toon Link. I was mourning for Popo, all the people who were already dead, all the ones who were to die. And there was another emotion, slowly building until it overpowered my sorrow.

Anger.

Samus killed a child. How could a grown woman bring herself to do that? How could Toon Link forgive her so quickly and easily? Maybe he knew something I didn't. The innocence of a child. But, deep in my heart, I knew Samus couldn't take all the blame.

The Capitol had done this.

They killed Toon Link, Popo.

They were going to keep killing, death after death, the blood on their hands thick and hot.

The disgust I felt for them had no words to describe it.

* * *

**Pit, District 11**

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow." Pain shot through my body as I sat up slowly, looking at my surroundings. Still on the mountain island, I noticed it was already night time and I was right by the water's edge, far away from where the avalanche and fight had occurred. No matter how hard I tried, though, I couldn't remember how I had gotten here.

Trying to stand so I could search for my allies, I quickly gave up as the pain in my legs was so intense I wouldn't be able to make it a foot without falling.

"Just great," I sighed in annoyance, staring at the water glistening in the moonlight, when my attention was caught by the music that played before the Capitol showed that day's deaths. Now watching the skies, I saw the Capitol's symbol flash before the first death of the day was shown.

_Yoshi, District 9_

_Lucario, District 8_

_Popo, District 12_

I froze, watching the innocent face of Popo smiling in the sky, and immediately felt sick to my stomach. _He- He died? But he was so young… _It hurt to think about him, and I brought my attention back to the sky, no matter how awful I felt.

_Captain Falcon, District 6_

_Fox, District 5_

_Mario, District 9_

_Ike, District 10_

_Mr. Game and Watch, District 13_

_Toon Link, District 7_

My shoulders sagged, my hope that none of my other allies died was crushed. The Capitol's symbol flashed in the sky, music resuming, signalling that was all the deaths of the day.

Laying back down on the ground, I thought of all the people who died that day. And I cried myself to sleep.

* * *

**AN - Hey! Almost been a month! Whooooops? Hopefully updates will go quicker, but I can't promise anything!**

**Yeeeeah, I know what you're thinking- "But Daisy Bokoblin, you never really covered the Marth stuff!" ...Well, Peach went insane, okay?!**

**New cover image for this! That's what happens when I get 10 minutes of free time on Paint XD**

**Reviews:**

**Zelda Charm - Yes, there is a LOT going on! Hopefully I can keep track of it all? XD**

**OrangeStreakedStar - I made you cry? WHOOPEE! XD jk, but I hope those tears are good ones? :)**

**RandomObserver42 - Glad you enjoyed that scene! I really enjoyed writing it, just because of the interaction between Pit and Palutena! :) Didn't really cover the Marth stuff... Whooooops?**

**RedPandaPokemon - Thanks for telling me about R.O.B.! Funny thing is, I just figured that out a few days before you posted that review XD also, hope chapter 10 has lived up to your expectations! :)**

**Gary the Goomba - Everyone in the fanfiction universe, meet my younger sister. She has chosen Gary the Goomba as her alias! So, Gary, thanks for the compliments! And yes, Popo is gone... :'( I can't keep writing forever! Need I remind you of how much time of mine you already take up by BEGGING me to play Brawl with you?! But I am glad you're enjoying this story! :)**


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